Undercover love
by kayllahs
Summary: Natasha, a KGB and Hydra agent has been sent to watch over the one and only Captain America. But as the days pass and as they speak more and more, will she be able to fullfil her mission and finish it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Стив.**

**Natasha's POV**

34 Balmwell Avenue, Edinburgh, EH16 6HD Scotland

Natasha contemplated the address written on a piece of paper that laid in her hand. With a sigh she typed the address on her car's GPS and buckled her belt. As being the Black Widow, she had been used to moving around the world and being someone she was not. During her days in the Red Room she had been taught to never get use to one place, and that she had no place in the world. She surely did have many covers and safe places all over the globe but she was, in fact, getting tired of her life. Been told what to do, where to go, who to kill. She just couldn't do it anymore. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she hates what she sees.

A monster, a killer, an object.

That is what she had always been and will probably always be. It has been told that the Red Room had been closed decades ago, which was false because the redhead had spent 12 years of her life in this dreadful institution. When she had reached the age of 18, she had been switched from the Red Room to the KGB which worked with Hydra.

Natasha pushed aside the thoughts of her early life as she arrived at the right place. She parked her car in front of the house and stopped the car. She took a breath as she looked at the house. This is where she was going to stay for the next few months, observing and planning what was she had been told to do. She took her bag from the passenger seat and exited the car. She closed the door behind her locking the car as her eyes remained on the little house.

She pushed the bag over her left shoulder and walked down the pavement, she opened the small front gate and stepped inside the front garden. She took a quick glance around at her surroundings, watching the lively neighborhood. Kids played in their gardens as their parents watched them as they drank something- probably coffee. An elderly couple were sat in their front porch, hands in hands with smiles plastered on both their faces. Natasha surprised herself when she felt her lips twitch in a small smile.

"They are lovely, aren't they?" A male's voice asked from her right. She turned her head to where the voice came from to see a young, beautiful man standing in the garden of the house right next to hers. She knew that man, everybody did.

_What a way to keep low._ She thought.

"Yes, they are." She flashed him a smile and turned to enter her house when the man's voice spoke again. "Are you new in the neighborhood?" He asked, his American rolling off his tongue.

Natasha stopped walking and faced the man. She observed him for a minute before replying. "Isn't that obvious?" She retorted and noticed the look of shock that passed through his face for a brief second. "I don't see how it's important for you to know if I am new or not. It is clearly obvious that you aren't living in one of those houses."

Mischief passed through his eyes as he cracked up an eyebrow. "Care to develop?"

"Look at your clothes." She pointed at his Armani suit. "It's way too fancy for a neighborhood like this. As you can see, the people around don't seem to wear the same kind of clothes. Also, your accent gives you away. Now the real question is, what is a man as wealthy as you doing here?"

A smirk appeared on the man's handsome lips. "I just think you blew my cover."

"Your cover?" She snorted rolling her eyes. "As if you were trying to hide who you are."

"Touche." He chuckled and walked farther into the garden so he could properly face her. "Since you have my name, care to give me yours?"

She smiled and pretended to be thinking for a minute before leaning her head towards him. "I don't think so."

A laugh escaped his mouth as he shook his head amusingly. "Oh, sweetheart. I'll know sooner or later."

Sweetheart. The typical type of pet names Natasha hated to be called. Before she could even choose between attacking him or calling him out on his behavior a third voice was heard.

"What are you doing here, Tony?" Another man's voice said. The man, Tony, and Natasha both turned their heads towards the front gate of the house next to Natasha's. She trailed her eyes over his handsome features. He looked even better in person, his baby blue eyes were glaring at the man she had been speaking to. Her eyes then traveled down his body taking in his attire, he wore a white shirt with a black jacket and blue jeans.

"Paying my favorite pal a visit." Tony said turning his whole body to the other man. "It's been a long time since we last saw each others."

"Cut the formalities." He hissed looking rather calm. He raised an eyebrow as his eyes remained on Tony. His eyes never left him, Natasha wondered if he had acknowledged her presence or if he just ignored her. "Leave my property, please." His tone remained calm as his eyes by now would have burned holes through the billionaire's head.

Natasha thought that they were oddly ridiculous, they pretended to be superheroes that wanted nothing but to save the world. She knew that the oldest avenger had gone uncover for a moment, that was the reason why she was there. But for God's sake, The Tony Stark aka Iron man visiting a muscular and impressive man with blonde hair and blue eyes was anything but discreet.

"You should take that inside." Natasha spoke up without meaning to. She had noticed that the neighbors were looking their way. The blonde's eyes turned soft as they landed on her. She saw that he looked at every detail of her face as he stepped up to them. The woman locked eyes with him and got trapped into the blue ocean of his eyes.

"You may want to take that inside." Tony said from beside them. The two teared their eyes away from each other and looked at the billionaire. "But Missy Red over is right, we should get inside and talk."

"Missy Red?" The blonde asked, his eyes going back on her.

"It's Natalie, actually." She smiled softly then glared at Tony when he said. "I told you that sooner or later I would get your name." He chuckled and threw a wink her way before making his way towards the house.

"Steve." The handsome man blurted out.

She knew that was his name, she had seen his file but still she couldn't help but ask. "Steve?"

"I, uh, that's my name." He said his cheeks flushing red, his voice sounding nervous. "I am Steve."

A satisfied smirk formed on the agent's lips. "Nice to meet you, Steve. I guess I'll see you around." She said speaking softly as she looked at him with her emerald eyes. She took a last glance at him before finally walking inside her house- the house where she was crashing at for a few weeks.

She went down the hall straight to the living room, she sat down on the couch and pulled out a file from her bag. She settled back as she laid the said file on her lap, she opened it and started reading it once again.

_You have no idea what's coming your way, Стив._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Think about it**

**Steve's POV**

His eyes were glued to the beautiful woman who seemed to be his new neighbor. He watched her walk up her porch, he was totally mesmerized by her emerald eyes. Ever since he woke up from the ice, he has never met anyone like her. _What a thought Steve, you barely talked to her._

He let out a sigh as his thoughts drifted to the life he had back then in the 40's and how everything seemed different and somehow worst but he quickly brushed those thoughts away as he remembered that Tony was in his house for whatever reason.

He switched the bag of food in his other arm as he walked up to his house. He walked in and closed the door behind him. He went straight to his kitchen and dropped the bag onto the kitchen counter. He took out the things he brought at the store and put them away, in the place they had to go in.

"You traded your hero life to this?" Tony commented as he leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. He almost gave him a scornful look, but he restrained from it, he was his friend and he shouldn't be judging him. He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts and looked at Steve, waiting for him to tell him anything.

"This is the kind of life I should have had." Steve said as he put a hand on his hip and returned the billionaire's look. "Listen, Tony, I know why you're here and you know what I will say to that."

"What's the worse that could happen?" He retorted and stepped up to the man that his own father had spend his life fancying more than anything. "You said you wanted to try and settle down to this new life, this new century but Steve, there's something that I have learned through the years and that you will come to learn as well, you can't do things alone. Even I know that, and I admit that sometimes you need help."

"I don't mean to sound rude, Tony, but... You have absolutely no clue what I am going through. In fact, nobody does. As I told Fury, as I told you, I need time to be alright. There is only one way that I will be okay, it is by finding who I am and what is my role here. I lost who I was when I went under the ice, and I can't help people if I am myself... lost."

"It didn't stop you from saving all of this people during the battle of New York."

"Because I did what had to be done, and my only wish to be able to keep helping people."

Tony nodded and grabbed a piece of papers from the back pocket of his pants. He looked down as he unfolded them before meeting Steve's eyes. "I am the last person that would do this but, here." He handed the papers. "Maybe loneliness isn't the answer, maybe it is by joining our team. You could do great with this team."

Steve let out a sigh and he crossed his arms across his chest. "What are you doing here exactly, Tony? You are not convinced yourself about this initiative, and you try to convince me?"

"I may not be a hundred percents convinced but you need this more than I do. This is what I owe you, I spent my whole childhood hearing stories about the Great Captain America. My father could go on and on about you, I even started to despite you even through I didn't know you. To me it seems that he cared more about you than about me."He shrugged slightly."And he probably did, but if there's one thing that I am sure of, it's that without you, I wouldn't have been born. My father would have died and no matter how many rancor I could have- or still have about him, he is still my father."

Steve put one of his hands on the counter of his kitchen and looked at Tony as he listened to him talk. "You don't owe me anything, Tony."

"Let's face it; it's hard for me to admit that you are a great guy and I know you would do anything to help and protect people. This is exactly what we could do together."

"I don't know." He looked out of the window that looked out on his new neighbor's garden. His eyes were glued to the shallow of light that the shining sun procured.

"At least, try to think about it." Tony said.

Steve nodded and looked back at Tony as he nodded slightly he replied. "I will."

"Good." He held out his hand to the soldier. "See you soon."

"Of course." He told him as he shook his hand.

"Maybe we'll see each other to the next world destruction." The billionaire said with an amused smirk as he stole one of Steve's apples from the basket of fruit.

The blonde haired man chuckled and shook his head. "Let's hope we don't have to come down to that."

"Take care of you, Steve." Tony said before taking a bite from the apple. Steve simply nodded at him with his lips pursed. He then listened as his colleague walked out of the house and a sigh escaped his mouth when the door closed. The silence he had gotten used to returned among the walls of the lonely house. His eyes drifted again to his neighbor's house, and thoughts about the new mysterious woman filled his mind.

He wanted to go to her house in order to properly greet her, but he was afraid that it might be a bad idea. He couldn't just show up and say hi again, remember me? How easy that would be. He shook his head as if he tried to get rid of his thoughts, he looked back on the papers that Tony gave him and decided to study them carefully. He walked to his desk in the living room, and he switched on the small light. He then took out a pen and a piece of paper where he would write down the things he understood and the things he would disagree on. Steve knew that there would obviously be things he'd disagree on.

He spent a moment going through the papers. They explained the goals of the team, in what they would help people and protect the world.

He put away the papers with a sigh and looked at the clock on the wall above the chimney. His eyes widened when he saw the time. He had spent almost three hours studying two pieces of paper. He hadn't even noticed that the sun had gotten really low or that his stomach begged for food.

He stood up and went to his kitchen. He made himself a quick dish. He made sure he had enough to eat. His metabolism was surely fast, and he needed to eat a lot. The dish he had made could be for a least four people but he knew that no matter how great his metabolism was, he wouldn't be able to eat that alone. He sighed, again and his eyes traveled up to his window. He only realized now that the kitchen window was straight opposite to his neighbor's kitchen.

He watched as Natalie rummaged through the boards and fridge for something to eat. He felt like a stalker for watching her but he didn't really care. He kept watching as the woman sat on her counter with her shoulders slumped and her slight opened mouth indicated him that she had sighed.

She took out her phone and her eyes rolled in the back of her head before she threw away the phone on the kitchen table. She must have no more battery.

Steve, being the good man he was, walked down his corridor and out of his house. He closed the door behind him and went to Natalie's house. Once he stepped up the garden and the porch he knocked on her door.

He waited a few minutes, when she opened the door he was watching around the neighborhood. He turned to her with a smile. "Hello."

"Hi." She replied back, with a slight of surprise deep hidden in her voice. Steve looked at her and forgot how to speak. _Oh, come on if Bucky could do it, you can too_. He told himself and nostalgia crashed over him. "How can I help you?" Natalie's voice rang again, keeping him away from old memories.

"Um..." Steve began but his voice cracked up in his throat. He then cleared his throat and looked at her. "I made dinner, but it's way too much for me." He said and scratched the back of his head nervously. "I- uh- I kind of noticed that you didn't have anything to eat do I thought I could invite you over. Because of the over food, of course."He assured her.

Natalie cracked up both of her eyebrows, her face clearly showing that she hadn't expected that from him. However, a brief smile appeared on her lips. She opened her mouth to say something, and Steve couldn't wait for her answer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Why not**

**_Natasha's POV_**

Natasha sat on her couch for almost an hour as she searched for every little detail she could find in Steve's file. Even though she already went through it, she needed to be sure that she found everything about him. They were some things that she would have to discover herself because there wasn't everything in his file. It doesn't inform you on which color was his favorite, or his favorite dish or even his sexuality. These could be small unimportant things to most people's eyes, but it was what was the most important for Natasha. This is how she could truly determinate who somebody could actually be.

She raised from her couch and hid the file underneath it, that wasn't the perfect place to hide it but nobody was expected to her house anyway. She walked into her kitchen and saw that she had a good view into the soldier's house. She could see most of his kitchen and a part of his living room. How interesting. She thought.

She glued herself to the wall where her window was to get a better view of where Steve was. She didn't know if Stark had left yet and she was curious to discover if that was the case. She realized that he had in fact left because Steve was hovering over something, she didn't know what or how long he has been doing so. She went back to the living room to get her camera but only when she returned to her kitchen she noticed that Steve was no longer where he used to be. She frowned slightly and looked for him, she hid herself when she saw him wandering around in his kitchen.

Natasha's stomach growled with hunger as she watched Steve make himself food. She looked around and started to go through the cupboards of the kitchen. When she found nothing she checked the fridge and found nothing there as well. She realized now that she had absolutely nothing to eat, she could go for hours without eating but right now she was hungry and she hadn't eaten anything all day. She sat on her kitchen counter and pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket. There must be somewhere around here that she could go to get some food, right?

When she tried to use her phone, it turned off. No more battery! She sighed as her hand with the phone rested on her thigh. "Great." She said, her eyes rolling in the back of her head as she threw away the phone on the kitchen table. The redhead woman hopped off the counter and went back to her living room. She was searching through her bags for her phone charger when she heard somebody knock on her door, she let the bag she was holding fall on the ground and she went to open the door.

She opened the door and to her surprise, there stood Steve Rogers aka Captain America. He was watching around the neighborhood before he turned to her with a smile. "Hello." He told her.

"Hi." She replied back, she tried her best to keep the surprise down in her voice. She had not expected to see him so soon, she never would have thought that she'd make contact so fast with him. He had this kind of goofy look on his face but the way his eyes were made her realize that he was losing himself in his thoughts again. "How can I help you?" She asked to bring him out of his thoughts.

"Um..." He began but his voice seemed to have cracked up in his throat. He then cleared his throat and looked at her. "I made dinner, but it's way too much for me." He said and scratched the back of his head nervously. "I- uh- I kind of noticed that you didn't have anything to eat so I thought I could invite you over. Because of the over food, of course." He assured her.

Natalie cracked up both of her eyebrows, her face clearly showing that she hadn't expected that from him. However, a brief smile appeared on her lips. Who would have thought that he had watched her through the windows? She opened her mouth to say something. "Why not? I guess... I could come." She said with a shrug. She would normally not accept to eat with a target but she was very hungry and what he had made did seem delicious.

His face smiled at her and he nodded happily. "Great."

She took her jacket and her keys, she locked her door before going to his house with him.She saw the little smile on Steve's face when she walked past the door. "I'm not usually like this." He told her. "I mean, not a stalker."

"It must be the century that starts rubbing off of you." She suggested with a little smirk.

He paused as he closed the door after her entrance. He looked at her, swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to act normally. "What do you mean?"

Natasha shrugged and Steve lead her to his kitchen. He told her to sit down as he got out the plates. She took a breath of the delicious food and her stomach growled some more. "It really smells delicious." She complimented.

"Uh, thank you." Steve shyly said as he sat down. He took her plate and put some of the dish in it before giving it back to her. He did the same thing with his own plate and looked at her with a smile.

"To answer your question from earlier, what I meant is that this new century must be a challenge for you and you might have already gotten used to it." She said as she took some of the food with her fork.

"What makes you think that?" He frowned as he asked her. "We've barely said two words to each other." He almost rudely said.

She raised her eyebrow in slight surprise to his change of attitude. He was suddenly on his defense. "Yet, you invited me to your house." She said, her tone as briefly rude as his was.

"I- uh," Steve stammered. "I'm sorry. You're right."

"All I meant to say was that it wasn't very smart of Stark to show up like that." She shrugged. "Anyway, this is good."

"Yeah, thanks." He said before shutting himself with food. The two adults stopped talking and enjoyed their meals.

Natasha couldn't believe that she was already in her Target's kitchen. She knew she was good, she was selfishly confident enough to acknowledge that, but she never thought she was this much good. She couldn't help wondering if the man was stupidly naive that he would invite strangers into his house or if he was too good that he would invite someone who doesn't have food into his house. She couldn't miss this opportunity, she had to talk with him in order to start making her way through his life. She knew she shouldn't be getting too personal with him, she didn't want to know everything about him. All she had to do was finish her mission.

"So, how long have you been there?" She asked, to break the silence.

"Around three months. I've decided to come here after... New York." He said after swallowing his food. "I needed some change of heart."

Natasha nodded understandingly and she knew what he meant when he mentioned the town. If there was one thing she had learned through the years, it was that she had to let men expose themselves to her. "Tell me, how's the neighborhood?"

Steve looked at her and was greeted by a smile from her. He briefly returned her smile before saying. "It's good. Very friendly, very familial. I didn't really speak with the neighbors but it's a calm place."

"Just the kind of place I've been searching my whole life." She truthfully said, surprising herself.

"Me, too." He honestly told her and the way he was looking at her only told her that he wasn't lying. "So, calm, that's what brought you there?" He questioned.

She internally smirked at the question, always try to figure out people's whereabouts. Maybe he wasn't that naive. "Yes, I needed some change of heart." She repeated his earlier words. "I needed to get away from the old life."

"The old life?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe one day you'll come to know." She said pulling her plate away. "I won't spill the beans, I don't even know who you are."

Steve chuckled and put some more dish into his plate. Boy, he could sure eat a lot. "What do you mean? You know me, everyone seems to."

Natasha shook her head and put the plate into the sink. She washed it and turned to Steve who was watching her every moves. She walked to him and put a hand on the counter. "What do you want me to say, exactly? That I do know you when all I heard about you was about the superhero and not the man?" She shook her head. "That wouldn't be the thing I want."

"And what is it that you want?" He asked back, looking at her as he put down his fork.

"To know you." She said and smiled at him. "The real you, not the figure but the man hidden under the helmet."

"Only if I get to know you." He told her, unconsciously leaning towards her.

"Of course." She nodded. "I could use a friend."

"So could I." He said with a smile.

The two adults looked into each other's eyes and Natasha's breath itched in her throat. She had noticed that Steve had a different way of looking at her, unlike other men his eyes stayed locked in hers. His eyes were smoothing, they contained hurt and she recognized his pain because she, too, was in pain. She didn't quite know why he would be in pain but she was sure that it was about his new life.

However, there was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite recognize. She blinked as if it wasn't true but his eyes did have something in them. Was it the goodness that she hadn't seen before? Or just the way he was?

"Natalie?" He questioned and her face fell. When she heard that name, she remembered why she was there.

She looked away and cleared her throat. "I should go." She said scratching the top of her head. "Thank you for the food."

"You're welcome." He said clearing his throat.

"See you soon." She added with a smile before walking out of the house. She sighed, this had never happened before. She had never forgotten for even one second that she had to be in character. She thought back to the moment when she had told him that she wanted to know about him, which was something that she wasn't supposed to do.

She shook her head and went to her house. She locked the door and put her phone on charge. She went to the bedroom upstairs and laid into bed. She sighed again and tried her best to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: People are creeps around here**

**Steve's POV**

Steve woke up in his bed, the shining sun had woken him up. He blinked a few times before standing up in his bed. It was six days after he invited Natalie over, he had only seen her a few times and it was always brief. He usually didn't get out much of the house but since she arrived, he went out more and more. He sometimes would get into his garden and paint the neighborhood, he would sometimes sit down and enjoy a non-alcoholic drink.

Sometimes when he'd leave to the store or to take a walk he'd see Natalie in her own garden. They would spend some times talking and laughing, he thought that she was nice and even if he didn't know her, he liked spending those little moments with her. Over the days, they had gotten more acquainted with each other.

He decided to start his day as he got up from his bed. He went downstairs to make breakfast. After he ate, he got ready for the day. He dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt.

He went to his window and looked out on his back garden. He realized that it was stupid to have such a big garden for himself only. He smiled slightly and walked towards the door, grabbed his keys, locked his house and went to the store.

He didn't have a car yet, he wanted to have his driving license first. He couldn't keep on driving illegally for years. He walked towards the nearest stores and found a pet store. He stayed out and looked at the animals from outside. Then after thinking for awhile, he went inside the store. Inside he was greeted by an older woman —though he was pretty sure he was even older than her— with a beautiful smile and long brown hair. "Hi, welcome inside. How can I help you?" She said with a British accent.

"Ma'am." He greeted her as he walked towards the counter. "I would like to adopt a dog. Do you have any?"

"Oh, no. The barking you hear are from the cats." She sarcastically said with a smile on her lips. She laughed slightly at Steve's dumbfounded face.

He kind of wanted to slap himself for his questions, of course they had dogs, it was a pet store!

"Sorry." She told him with an awkward smile before holding her hand out to him. "My name's Dinah."

He took her hand and shook it as he gave her a smile. "Steve." He said.

"So, what are you looking for?" She said once they pulled their hands back. "Do you know what dog you would like?"

"uh, no. Not at all." He admitted. "I haven't given it much thought, actually it's just kind of spur of the moment thing.""

"Oh, well. Why don't you take a look around?" She gently suggested with a bright smile.

Steve nodded and looked at the animals in the room. He walked to where the dogs were and clicked his tongue to call them. Some of the dogs barked, others cheerfully put their noses through the cages. His eyes fell upon a dog with blue eyes and brown fur. He looked happy and nice. He held out his hand and the dog licked his fingers.

Steve smiled and turned to Dinah who now stood next to him. "Looks like you clicked." She told him. "It's a male, name's punk." She informed and Steve shoot his eyes to hers.

"Punk?" He questioned.

"Yeah, unusual I know. I ran out of Disney characters names." She said chuckling.

Steve laughed softly and looked back at him. "I would love to take him home."

"Come with me, then." She urged him towards the counter where she pulled out papers.

Steve walked out of the pet store with Punk attached to a leash. He smiled as the dog smelled everything it saw. He walked around the block and stumbled across a kitchen furniture store. He got an idea and asked if the dog could come in.

The blonde man walked out of the store a few minutes later with a paper bag in his hand and a smile on his face. Ever since he decided to leave here, he was getting happier each day. He was getting himself back slowly even if it was different but tho there were things that would be always missing in his life.

He walked back to the neighborhood and when he arrived in his garden, Punk started barking. He looked down at him and tried to shush him. When the dog stopped barking, he heard somebody's voice from behind. "Steve, please don't tell me that this your dog."

It was Natalie's voice that sounded weary. He turned around and looked at her, he saw that she was wearing sweats and a tank top.

"Well, it is my dog." He said with a sorry – not sorry look on his face.

She pursed her lips in a pout and leaned against the barrier that separated their gardens. "Your dog woke me up, then." She informed him half complaining.

"It's ten am and you're still sleeping? I thought you were an early person."

"Ugh, don't tell me. I'm the first surprised, it never happened before." She spoke again then her eyes drifted to the dog. "Why did you get that?"

"Punk."

"Excuse me?" Her eyes shot up to his. "You know, Steve, over the years insults got only better. You sound like a cranky grandpa although there's no reason for you to insult me."

"Insult you? I never– Oh, I see." He gave an apologetic smile and added. "That wasn't an insult, it's the dog's name and you know, I could be old enough to be _your_ grandpa."

"No, no, no. Don't say that, it's a very strange thing to say." She shook her head showing disgust.

Steve let out a laugh. "Yeah, you're right." He said and remembered the thing he bought at the kitchen furniture store. "Oh, I have something for you, by the way. There." He said, handing her the paper bag.

"Oh, Steve. You shouldn't have." Natalie said and took the paper bag. She then looked at the gift that he brought her and her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Blinds?" She questioned lifting her eyes to his. "You bought me blinds?"

"Well..." Steve trailed off with a shrug. "I heard that people are creeps around here."

Natalie laughed softly. "If by people you mean you, then I agree." She said with a genuine smile plastered on her face. "But I wonder, why did you bought them for me when you could have kept them for yourself? You could have put them in your kitchen."

"This way I know I won't be tempted to look into your kitchen." He said with a chuckle.

Natalie shook her head amusingly and playfully rolled her eyes. "My, my. Captain America is a total creep."

Steve couldn't control the blush that crept up on his cheeks. "No, I— I'm not."

"What are you not? Captain America or a creep?" He heard her asked teasingly.

He scratched his head softly and felt slightly uncomfortable at the brought up topic. "I'm not a creep." He clarified. "I hope to be a gentleman, that's how my mother raised me."

He looked at Natalie who put away the blind and turned fully to him. "What was she like?" She asked in a small voice. "Your mother?"

Steve's eyes drifted away from the woman, his eyes seemed broken as he recalled his past life. A sigh escaped his mouth, it has been awhile since he last thought about his mother. Back then, she had been the pearl of his life, she was an amazing woman who loved everyone. She was nice, kind and generous. She always looked on the bright side just like he does.

That's exactly what Steve told Natalie. She smiled sadly. "Do you miss her?"

"A lot." He said and looked at her.

Natalie nodded and returned his gaze. "It must have been amazing, having a mother."

Steve's eyebrows collided in a frown at her words. "You didn't have one?"

A small gasp escaped her lips as her face showed him surprised. It was like she hadn't realized what she said. She cleared her throat to regain her composure and said. "Not really."

"What do you mean?"

"I..." She trailed off. "I'd rather speak about something else if that's okay with you."

"Of course, of course." He assured her and gave her a comforting smile. "You know, there's going to be a festival tomorrow night in town. What do you say we go together?"

Natalie looked at him, her emotions unreadable. She seemed to be thinking it through, he noticed she bit the inside of her cheek. "That could be great. I could use a night out with a friend."

"Yeah, me, too." He said.

"Well, see you tomorrow night then." She spoke up before going back inside her house.

Steve did not want to be romantically involved with someone yet but he kept wondering one thing. Had Natalie just friend zoned him?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: ****What am I ****doing ****here?**

_Italic_ – Words in Russian

_**Natasha's POV**_

Bark. Bark. Bark.

Barks again and again. A groan escaped Natasha's mouth as her eyes fluttered open, she sighed and grabbed a pillow that she put over her face. Her hands came up to the side of her face and pressed the pillows against her face. But nothing did it, she still heard the barks. One morning was all she asked, a good morning where she could do nothing but sleep and not think about the world she has to live in. She sighed into the pillow and pulled it away from her face. She stood up and walked towards her window where she sat on the sofa. Her eyes fell upon Steve that was in his garden with his dog, Punk. It seems that he was trying to train him but the way the dog ran everywhere in the garden proved that he was beautifully failing.

She stayed at her window for a little moment. Every once in awhile she would chuckle or even laugh, amused by Steve chasing his dog. She surprised herself when she let out a soft, yet audible, "Yay!" when he managed to catch Punk. In over one week, her view on Steve had already changed. It was almost unbelievable to see how quickly she had gotten used to his kindness and generosity.

All week, whenever she was going out in her garden, she had hoped she would see Steve and talk with him. It didn't feel like she was spying on him anymore, in only one week she had changed so much. She rolled her eyes at the thought, what does it even change? In the end she would have to kill and she'd be back to what she thinks is a normal life. She admired how good Steve was and how alive he seemed to be even if his whole world had been wrecked when he went under the ice. He kept smiling, laughing and living. It felt like he was never sad but she knows that he gets sad sometimes.

Oh, get it together! Her mind scolded her. He's your target, nothing more. She sighed and prepared herself for the day. Once she was ready she walked out of her house and went to Steve's house. She knocked on the three times but she had no answer. She waited for a little while before walking around the house to the backyard. The dog was the first one to see her, he ran towards her and barked. Steve turned around when Punk started running again, he smiled when he saw her. He walked to her and greeted her. "Hey, Natalie. How are you?"

She really hated that name, she really didn't like that he didn't know her. He was just so good that it made her want to become good. "I'm good..." She trailed off. "What about you?"

"I could be better, I've been trying to make Punk stop barking but I'm failing." He said with a genuine smile on his lips.

"Yeah, he kind of woke me up." She said with an awkward yet sweet smile. "But before you apologize, let me tell you it's okay. I have lots of things to do today anyway."

He chuckled slightly, a bit embarrassed that she knew what he was about to say. "Like getting ready." He said, in addition to what she previously said. He must have noticed the confusion in her eyes because he added after a small moment of silence. "We're going to the festival tonight, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, yeah." She nodded. "I did not forget obviously."

He chuckled again and looked at her with this such sweet look she could melt and he wouldn't even notice it. She was pretty sure he had no idea how he looked at her. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" She asked, confusion regaining her face. "I'm not hearing anything, Steve."

"Exactly! Punk stopped barking!" He cheered with a little dance that made Natasha laugh. "I think he likes you." He nodded towards the dog laying on the ground beside her very own feet. She looked down and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Well, I'm not going to like him if he keeps barking in the morning." She pointed out with amusement in her voice. Her phone beeped and she looked down at it. She saw that it was a simple text: '_meet me in 15 minutes_'. She held in a breath and looked up to see if Steve was looking at her but his eyes were still fixed on the dog. She pulled her phone back, she knew who this was from. "Um… I gotta go." She announced. "It was nice seeing here."

"Yeah, my garden's a pretty nice place to meet." He joked with his boyish smile and a chuckle escaped the woman's lips. "See you, Nat."

"Nat?" She questioned with an eyebrows raised.

"It sounds better, doesn't it?"

"Kind of." She said and waved him goodbye before returning to her temporary house. She grabbed her car's keys and locked the door before jumping in her car and driving where she had to. She drove for a little moment until she arrived to a lost warehouse away from the town where she and Steve lived. She parked her car and went inside the warehouse. "Hello?" She asked, her Russian accent rolling off her tongue.

"_Natalia_!" A man appeared behind her, his both arms held out and his thick Russia accent on check. "You're late."

"It's the best I could do in such short notice." She replied with a little of deviance. "What am I doing here?"

"To give us update on your mission, _sweetheart_." The man said and straightened his already straightened suit. "_How foolish is he_?

"_A lot. The guy hasn't doubted a thing_." She replied in her native language. "_He thinks we're friends_."

A dark laugh escaped the man's mouth and one of his hand clasped over his stomach. "_Oh, Natalia. He must be really foolish to think that you are friends. What man would even want to be friends with you?_" He questioned even if he was not expecting an answer and his eyes traveled all over her body.

Natasha wanted to kick him, he was repulsing her she almost had to retch. She tried her best to conceal herself. She felt like that was what she always had to do, conceal herself. When she was with Steve she had to in order to not be caught, and when she was with the other agents of Hydra she had to conceal herself not to show she had emotions. She had to prove who she was, the Black Widow.

"When does the mission finish?" She asked, this time in English.

"A few more weeks, _sweetheart_. We have to make sure nobody from Shield or the Avengers are watching him." He told her. "Oh, and I am going to give you a new assignment."

"Which is?" She was afraid of what he might tell her, she didn't want to have to hurt Steve.

"_Seduce him. Make him fall for you_, he'll be easier to touch." He said with a smirk on his lips.

"What? I can't do that!" She defended as she took a step toward him. "That would be awful."

"I don't care and neither should you, Natalia." He warned in a careful tone. "Don't forget what you were promised, if you do everything that we tell you to do. Now, go."

Without a word she rapidly walked to her car, she got inside and drove back to town. Tears were rolling down her face, she hated this, she hated her life. She found herself in a dilemma, she knew Steve was a good man and that he would never hurt anyone unless they deserved it. He didn't deserve to be treated the way she was told to. But what must she do?

In exchange for this mission, Hydra had promised her the only thing she had always wanted: freedom. If she did this, if she seduced Steve and made him fall for her she would never be a bird trapped into a cage anymore. But was it really worth it? To weaken a man for freedom? To hurt a man for freedom?

She closed her eyes for a second and shook her head to make the thoughts go away. When she opened them again she noticed she had arrived in town. She drove to her neighborhood and parked in front of her house. She wiped away her tears and went to her house. Once she arrived on the porch, she noticed that a note was on her door, she picked it up and read it through.

'_Come by my house before 6,_

_there's something I want to _

_show you. _

_Love, _

_Steve_'

A smile spread on her lips as she read the note, in one second she forgot all about her previous meeting. She opened her house and went to get ready for her da– night out with Steve. She wanted to slapped her forehead for what she almost said. She would never go on a date with a target, even if he was more than that and that she had been told to do so. She knew somehow she would have to but she didn't want to hurt him.

Truth to be told, Natasha didn't want to seduce Steve or trick him into falling for her because she was afraid that she'd be the one to fall for him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter** **6: Not** **used** **to this, huh?**

**Steve's P****OV**

Steve watched as Natalie left his garden after she had received a text message. He didn't miss the way an unknown worry flashed through her emerald eyes but he rather not comment on it to her. He turned his head when Punk started barking. "You're so unbelievable!" He expressed with a sigh and took the dog inside his house.

He let it go towards his food and the man walked towards his desk, he took a piece of paper and started writing his reply to The Avengers' request about coming back to America and fighting along their side. He was pretty sure he was making the right decision. He put the letter in an envelope and left it aside. He was going to wait a few days to be exactly sure that's what he wants.

He stood up to go see Natalie because he had something to tell her. He looked through the window and found her car gone, he totally understood that she had left somewhere. He grabbed the post-it and wrote something on it:

'_Come by my house_ _before_ _6,_

_There's_ _something_ _I want_ _to_

_show you_

_Love,_

_Steve_'

"There." He muttered to himself before going back to his house. He went upstairs to his very own painting room that used to be the guest room, when he moved in he pretty well knew that nobody would visit him for more than a day so he didn't really care about having a room to land a friend.

Once he walked inside the room he looked at the barely finished painting that he had made. A smile appeared slowly on his lips, he had started this painting barely three days ago and he couldn't be happier knowing who inspired him this one. He grabbed a white and covered the painting, he didn't want Natalie to see it because he was afraid of her reaction.

He didn't want her thinking that he was a stalker or something. He nodded to himself as if in agreement to what he just did and walked to his bedroom. He went to his wardrobe to see what clothes he would wear to the festival. For one second he considered calling Tony for advice but he quickly brushed away that thought, if he had the billionaire would have teased him and asked him an answer about the proposition of permanently being an Avenger. He changed clothes and leaded towards his kitchen once he was done, he took a bag and put some food inside just in case. He put the bag near the door then he grabbed Punk's leash and put it around his neck. The dog barked happily and hurriedly walked to the door. "You were out like ten minutes ago." Steve told him shaking his head and he opened the door.

Punk smelled everything on the way. Steve walked to town and Punk surprisingly was on his best behavior, he wasn't pulling on the leash or smelling people.

"Oh, hi Punk!" A woman who knelt before the dog was holding out her hand to the dog. She looked up at Steve and crossed his eyes. She stood back up and smiled at him. "I'm Dinah, remember?"

He looked at her for a slight moment. "Oh, yes, yes. You're the one who sold me Punk, right?"

She kindly laughed and nodded at Steve. "Yes, I am." She assured him with her bright smile. Her red hair flew in the soft wind and the sun shone behind her but Steve only looked at her awkwardly. "Um, are you going to the festival tonight?"

"Yes," He politely responded.

"Maybe we could go together? So you wouldn't be on your own."

"Oh, actually, I'm going with a friend. My neighbor." He informed her with an apologetic smile on his lips.

She nodded and quietly bit her lip. "Maybe some other time."

"Of course." He said and told her goodbye before going back home. When he was inside he knelt down to remove the leash for Punk and said. "What an odd woman she is."

* * *

Steve was playing with Punk when someone knocked on the door. "Oh, that must Natalie!" He muttered to the dog and hurriedly went to open the door. He greeted her with his boyish smile. His eyes briefly wandered up and down her body. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you, but we're still going as friends." She teased him with a smirk. Her eyes did the same thing his eyes had done and she smiled. "You don't look too bad."

He chuckled and stepped aside. "Please, do come in."

"What is it that you wanted to show me?" She asked as she stepped inside. "Don't tell me that this is some tricks that you've taught that punk of yours."

He laughed and closed the door behind her. "No, it's something way better."

"Do I get to see you shirtless?" She teasingly asked, her smirks returning on her lips. Steve couldn't help but blush at the assumption.

"No," He quickly mumbled and cleared his throat. "Follow me."

Natalie simply smiled and nodded. Steve leaded her upstairs into his painting room and he picked up the canvas he wanted her to see. "Come." He told her as he set the painting on the table.

She walked closer but not without taking in the whole room. She sat her purse down on the table and looked down at the painting. Amazement immediately filled her eyes, it was one of the best kind of art she had ever seen.

It was very simple and sophisticated yet so beautiful. Steve had painted the sun coming down on the few houses of the neighborhood. She smiled and looked up at Steve. "I didn't know you could paint. It's... just incredible."

A smile crossed his lips. "Thank you."

"I really mean it, Steve." She replied with an insisting look. He returned her gaze and the both of them locked eyes. No one spoke but something was happening - that both ignored - with just this one look.

They tore their eyes apart when they heard Punk groaning softly. He was chewing on the end of the sheet that Steve had put up earlier. "Punk, stop that!" Steve ordered but the dog kept doing it. With its little teeth he pulled on the sheet causing it to fall on him.

Steve chuckled. "See what you did." He sighed and chased the sheet-covered dog that was running to try to be freed from the white sheet.

When the painter managed to remove the sheet from the dog, he noticed that Natalie stood before the canvas on the easel. She seemed to be examining the barely finished portrait that he had made. Her eyes were traveling back and forth on the canvas.

"Steve..." Natalie whispered softly and picked up the portrait to set it on the table. She brushed her fingers on the painting softly, she seemed to be mesmerized.

Steve had his eyes on her as he watched her reaction. The sight of her eyes was suddenly blocked by a strand of hair that had fell down on her face but she didn't seem to realize it. He raised his hand towards her face but he was quickly stopped just before he could reach her face.

She had somehow seen his movement and grabbed his arm. He saw, for a brief moment only, fear in her eyes. He knew she had at tough past from what she had told him and it left him wondering how dark it actually was.

Despite having her hand wrapped around his upper arm, he managed to move his hand closer to her face and pulled behind her ear the strand of hair. Then, his other hand wrapped gently around her wrist so he could free his arm.

Instead of moving his hand and himself away he only got closer to her. With her arm still raised up, he crossed his fingers with hers and watched as the amazement returned in her eyes which were like glued to their joined hands. "Not used to this, huh?" He asked, in a soft voice.

"Not really." She replied and her eyes traveled up to his blue eyes that were already looking at her. "It feels kind of nice." She genuinely said.

A smile played on his lips and he brought their hands closer to them. He gently kissed the back of her hand before dropping their hands down. Natalie's mouth slightly parted at the kindly gesture.

Steve released her hand and brought his hand to her face but before he touched her, he asked. "May I?"

To which she answered in a silvery voice. "Yes."

He cupped her cheek gently and brought her face towards his. But instead of kissing her on the lips like he knew she probably excepted, he inclined her face slightly downward and pressed his lips against the crown of her head.

Natalie closed her eyes to feel in the moment and a content smile spread on her red lips. Steve didn't know what to do next, it wasn't as if he had planned on doing this. He impressed at how brave and bold he was being when he was by her side.

He gently pulled back, through he kept their hands joined together. "So, what do you think, Natalie?"

* * *

Hello, I hope everyone is odoing fine!

I finally updated, yayyy!

Just a quick message to thank everyone about the love they've given to this story, it really means a lot :)

Don't forget to leave a review!

Love,

Kayllahs


	7. Chapter 7

**For updates, information and probably games, follow me on instagram : aroyallovc**

**Chapter 7: The festival**

**Natasha's POV**

"So, what do you think Natalie?" She heard Steve ask her. She tensed when she heard the name, it wasn't her it was all a character. She quickly pulled away from him and avoided his confused eyes by looking back to the painting. She was speechless, she would've of never thought that he would ever paint her. She knew he was a painter, she saw it in his file and throughout her observations she saw him paint a couple of times.

She cleared her throat and finally found the words she was looking for. "I- I'm very impressed I must say. It isn't like anything I have ever seen and trust me, I've seen a lot of things." She only half joked and her eyes met his again. "We should go." She said, cutting short to the conversation.

"Of course." He told her and grabbed her hand gently. She looked down at their joined hands and was about to pull away when Steve started to walk out of the room. She had no other choice than following him. "It's going to be a great night." He told her.

Natasha closed her eyes and let out a silent breath. She decided to shut down her feelings and thoughts, she was going to be who she was supposed to be. A woman - who is a spy - going to a festival with her friend, or in her words: her target. She smiled at the man and replied. "I'm not doubting your word." She said and followed him downstairs.

He stopped the door and grabbed the bag he had previously left there. She frowned then raised an eyebrow. "What's in the bag?"

"Food." He said nonchalantly.

"What? Are you afraid that they will run out of food there?" She chuckled and shook her head. "Steve, it's 2012. We have enough food here, it won't run out in one night."

He sighed and put the bag back on the floor. "I guess you're right. I'm just... used to be careful on food." He said, looking defeated.

She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's all the contrary. It's a good thing, it's not something that should be wasted. Don't beat yourself up... Let's go have some fun." She announced with a smile on her lips. "Or maybe you're too old for that?"

He laughed lightly and raised an eyebrow. "Too old, really?" He shook his head amusingly. "How old do you think I am?"

"Old enough to know that if you keep talking, you'll probably pass away and make me miss the festival I was promised to go to."

"Fine, let's go." He said and rolled his eyes playfully.

Natasha squealed softly and exited the house. She had never been to this kind of thing before, being a KGB agent doesn't really let you do the funniest things in the world, you just do unpleasant things. Except if you are a psychopath, it's really disturbing and awful things. She told herself that she was getting back the teenage years her bosses had stolen from her.

The two adults made their way towards the festival, they had decided on walking there. On the way they had a little conversation about Punk's funny behavior whenever Natasha was around.

"I think he likes me better than he likes you." She teased with her smirk at the corner of her lips.

"Oh, please." He laughed. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't, I'm his owner!"

She shook her head and looked over at him with happiness and amusement in her eyes. "He only likes you because you're the one who gives him food." She pointed out

"Whatever you say."

"Oh, don't be jealous." She said stepping closer and put her hand on his shoulder as she leaned in towards his body. "But I think it's cute."

He looked at her with an emotion that she couldn't quite describe, but he had such a kind look in his eyes making them shine. "My jealousy is cute? What makes you think I'm jealous?" he questioned her.

She shrugged and her smirk stayed on her lips, she loved teasing him and he gave in so easily it was so fun. He was of very good company and she felt safe with him even though she was sent to spy on him. "Your dog likes me more than he likes you. Big deal." She jokingly said. She was still standing close to him as they walked towards where the festival was held.

"Well... In all honesty, if I were him, I would like you more than me. I mean, I already do." He shrugged and had his eyes on her as if he was waiting for her reaction.

Natasha looked at him with a somewhat shocked expression. "You... like me?" Her shy, quiet voice asked in disbelief. No, no, no. He couldn't like her, who could?

"I do like you, Natalie." He told her as he stopped walking and took her hands in his. "I really, really like you..."

"But... why?" Her mouth fell open and she had a shocked look on her face.

He stepped closer. "Because you are such a good person, you're funny, you're smart. You're great with people and children, you dare to express yourself and your thoughts. I may not know you for long but I just like spending time with you and it's just crazy how much I've grown to like you over the weeks." He told her genuinely as his thumbs slowly caressed the back of her hands.

Natasha breathed and emotions filled her eyes, her heart beat faster and she felt herself getting warm at the declaration. She has never been taught how to react to a man's declaration, at least not to this type of declaration. She bit her lips from the inside and crossed Steve's intense gaze. "I'm starting to think that we're never going to go to the festival..." It seemed to be the only thing that she had managed to get out.

She saw the way his eyes fell and she hated that she was the cause of that. When he was about to pull his hands away, Natasha tugged on his hands and brought one of them to her lips. She kissed the back of it to let him know that she was touched by what he said.

He looked at the ground and she certainly didn't miss the way his tongue darted across his lips. He looked then back at her and said with a soft smile. "Then I guess we should go."

"Yeah." She replied.

The two foreigners resumed walking again and nobody said anything anymore. They entered the festival and saw a couple of people and different stands. They decided on walking around and do the things they found most interesting. They talked again, about life in general and how it is living in Scotland.

To Natasha, it did really feel like it was a date, they were joking, eating and talking. She absolutely loved being there with Steve. Every once in awhile he'd try to slide a comparison to the festival he used to go to when he was much, much younger.

As they sat at a table with their food, the redheaded woman looked up at the soldier. "Steve?" She called out his name to draw his attention on her.

He looked up at her. "Yes?"

"I wanted to say sorry for the thing I said when you told me you liked me... I didn't know to react, it's all so..." She trailed off, trying to find the good word that will describe how she actually feels.

"New?" He suggested. "I know, it feels like that to me too. It's just insane, just yesterday the boy I was would have never dared to even speak to a girl and today I'm pouring out my feelings. Look, Nat, you don't have to apologize. It's okay, you don't have to apologize because you can't express the way you fell."

She nodded and looked at him, he knew he was right but she still felt that she should apologize. "Did you... Did you just call me 'Nat'?" She questioned after a small moment of silence.

"I think so... Do you like it?" He asked, unsure.

She smiled reassuringly. "I do like that."

"Great." He smiled back.

Natasha and Steve spent the entire evening at the festival. They had done multiple games, ate multiple foods and teased each other like they always did. They were on their way back to their houses now. It was late, nobody was in the streets. It felt like it was just the two of them and the world didn't exist anymore.

"That was a great evening." She told him once they arrived in front of their gardens. "Thank you, Steve."

"The pleasure is all mine." He replied. "I had fun."

She hummed and nodded. "Me, too. I'm glad you invited me."

"So am I." He said a bit awkwardly. None of them knew what to do there, the question of how they should part was stuck on both of their minds. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Steve." She replied.

Steve smiled softly and leaned in towards her. He softly placed a kiss on her cheek and Natasha felt herself blush into the dark of the night. When he pulled back, she put a hand on his upper arm and the soldier's mouth was just inches away from hers.

Her eyes were locked on his lips, when she looked up in his eyes, they were also fixating her mouth. "Steve..." She whispered softly.

"Nat..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Competition**

**Steve's POV**

He pulled back and stopped moving when he felt her hand on his upper arm. He saw that her eyes were locked on his lips and instinctively his eyes traveled to her mouth. "Steve..." She whispered softly.

"Nat…" He whispered back into the same voice that let her know that he wanted to kiss her. He put a hand on her cheek that he previously kissed and softly brought his mouth down to hers. He felt Natalie gasps softly into the kiss but she returned it setting a hand on the side of his neck.

Steve kissed her slowly, taking his time to feel in the kiss. Natalie was a special woman in his life, she was the one he wanted to spend his time with and the one who made him smile again. When he was with her, he felt like he was finally himself. There was no place he would rather be right now, he wanted to hold her and kiss her all night long. Her lips felt soft against his, he loved that feeling.

The kiss grew a bit more insistent when they stepped closer to each other. He smiled when she sighed happily in the kiss. Both of his hands slowly traveled to her hair and stroke them slightly as he kept on kissing her. It was like nothing before. His kisses with Peggy were always good but never this slow, this tasteful.

Softly, they both pulled away at the same time to get some air. Steve licked his lips as he breathed in the air softly and his eyes met Nat's. She had regained her breath and a smile was at the corner of her lips. "As friends, huh?" He teasingly said in a soft tone, reminding the woman that she had said that they would be going out as friends.

Nat's smile grew and a chuckle escaped her mouth. "Don't tell me that you've never kissed a friend before." She replied in the same teasing way. Her hands, that were on his upper arms, traveled down and took his hands in hers.

"Surely not like that." He shrugged lightly and returned her smile. "Well, uh, I guess I will see you tomorrow." He said, unsure if he had to say goodbye this shortly after kissing.

"Of course." She assured him with her soft smile. "Goodnight, Steve." She told him again before kissing him softly again. Steve was surprised but he returned her kiss nonetheless. This second was shorter than the first one. She pulled and smiled at him then walked up to her house.

He smiled as he watched leave. He then did the same and walk home. This night, when he was laying in bed he was incapable of sleeping. His thoughts were keeping him up. He kept wondering if that kiss meant something or if it was a one-time kind of thing. He really liked her and he wanted to be with her but he was afraid that she might not feel the same way. After all, he was the only one who poured out his feeling but he was okay with her not doing that. He didn't want to put any pressure on her.

After some time, though, he was finally asleep. He was woken up in the morning by the barks of Punk. He groaned and looked over at the clock, it was already 10am, he never sleeps that late!

The poor dog must be dying to go outside for his walk. He hurriedly got dressed and checked if Punk hadn't done anything around the house. When his little tour was done, he grabbed an apple and the leash that attached to the dog. The two of them walked outside and the dog was finally able to do his business.

Steve walked the dog around like he always did. He went to town with it as fed from his apple. Today was a very sunny day, he and the dog were getting thirsty. He went to the mall and attached the dog outside making sure that it wasn't in a sunny spot. He was knelt before Punk and caressed its head. "I'll be back soon, buddy." He said and went inside the mall.

He bought two bottles of water and a bowl along with a little snack. But when he returned outside, the dog was missing and Steve went crazy. "Punk? Punk?" He chanted as his eyes traveled around.

An old woman that passed by looked dirtily at Steve and grimaced. "Ye punk yerself." She said with a Scottish accent before going inside the mall. The soldier clicked his tongue annoyingly and tried to look for his dog.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." He heard a voice that he knew from behind him and turned around to see the redhead woman standing there. "I thought you would have seen us. I shouldn't have taken your dog." Her British accent rolled off her tongue as she spoke.

Steve let out a sigh of relief when he saw the dog in her arms. "You scared the shit out of me." He said cussing freely. He patted Punk's head and set down the bowl that he filled with water. He then took the dog from her arms and let it drink.

"I'm really sorry, Steve. I thought you might have abandoned Punk." She defended with worry on her face.

Steve frowned as he looked at her. "I would never abandon any of my pets and surely not by attaching them at the entrance of a mall. If I have a pet, it's my responsibility no matter what." He explained as he folded his arms across his chest and looked at her with a kind of harsh look.

"I'm really, really sorry." She genuinely said. "Is there anything I can do to be forgiven?"

He looked in her blue eyes and noticed that she was genuinely sorry. He let out a soft sigh and put on a smile. "No, it's fine, Dinah. You thought you were doing right and I understand."

Dinah smiled at him and looked relieved. "Is there still anything I can do for you?"

"No, it's okay." He said and attached the leash back on Punk before picking up the bowl and throwing away in the right bin the empty bottle of water. "Goodbye." He said softly and poured the rest of the water in somebody's vase that stood outside their window. He walked back to his house and considering going to see Nat but when he arrived he found her car gone. He went inside his house, released the dog and ate the snack he brought for himself as he drank from the second bottle of water.

He thought about asking Natalie out. He really wanted to be with her and take her on dates. He was already planning how their first date would go before he even asked her. He hoped that she was going to say yes.

He was pulled from his thoughts as somebody knock on his door. He smiled as he thought that it was Nat. He stood up and checked how he looked into the mirror in the hall. He took a breath before opening the door. When he did, it wasn't the redhead he had been expecting to see. "Dinah?" He asked with a slight frown. "What are you doing here?"

The woman smiled at Steve. "Look, I wanted to really apologize for what I did earlier. I am feeling really bad and even if you say it's okay it's not because I just went on and assumed things about you that couldn't be possible."

His frown left but he still wondered why she was there, before he had the chance to ask she beat him and spoke up again. "I would like to make a diner for as a sorry."

"Diner?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes, if it's okay with you. I would like to come here to your house let's say tomorrow and I'll cook you diner. What do you say?" She suggested with a soft smile on her lips and a hopeful look in her eyes.

Steve looked at her and opened his mouth to speak when something hit him. "Wait, how did you know I live here?" He said looking behind her and around the neighborhood.

She chuckled amusingly. "Oh, don't be paranoid, Steve. You wrote it down on the adoption papers for Puke."

"It's Punk." He corrected her with a frown and she chuckled again before saying sorry.

"So, what do you have to say about my suggestion?" She asked.

"Well… I don't see why not." He said and gave her a polite smile. Let's be clear on something there, he was not inviting her because he wanted to have her over but because he thought that her comportment was really odd.

"Great! See you tomorrow." She said before kissing his cheek and leaving the property.

Steve frowned more and watched her leave with a worrying look. "Do I have competition?" He heard her voice ask with amusement. He turned his head and saw Nat standing in his garden.

His face changed immediately, it broke into a smile. "Nat." He said as he walked up to her. "Hey." He said with his boyish grin.

"Hey," She repeated with her usual cheerful tone. "You didn't answer my question tho."

"Oh, no, you don't." He assured her taking her hand. "She's the one who sold me Punk, it's all."

She smirked and he saw a playful in her eyes. "And you let her kiss your cheek like that?"

"What- No- I- I didn't want… I mean she did herself..." He stuttered and Nat laughed at him with a beautiful smile on her face.

"I'm just messing with you, Steve." She said and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come here." She said before bringing his lips down to hers.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: ****Hello, Dinah**

**Steve's POV (yep, again)**

He and Natalie spent the day together in her house. They had watched some movies and chilled all day long together. It was a great day, it felt so domestic and sweet. Steve could already see himself spending his life with Nat.

As the two of them were sitting on the couch, Steve leaned down to kiss her and Natalie had hummed happily into the kiss. Their kiss had quickly grown more intense and turned into a make-out session. The soldier held onto her waist gently and at some point, he doesn't know how, he ended up on top of her. Their mouths crashed against each other's and Steve got scared. He gently pulled away and tried breathing normally again. "Wait." He said softly.

Natalie regained her breath and looked at him with a gentle look. "Is everything alright?" She asked as they both sat up and looked at one another.

"Uh, yeah." He replied while scratching the back of his head nervously. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead. You can tell me anything." She told him as she took his hand in hers. Her thumb was softly stroking the back of his hand and Steve felt himself smile.

He bit his lips anxiously and looked up at her. "I- I don't know if I'm ready for this." He said as he moves his finger in between them, pointing at her then at himself.

Natalie's eyes slightly widened and she frowned deeply. "You're not ready for us? I thought you said you liked me."

"Oh, no, no." Steve's eyes widened as well as he understood how she might have heard what he said. "That's not what I meant, I want to be with you. I just don't know if I'm ready for us to be.. intimate..."

Natalie's hand squeezed him in a comforting way and she smiled softly. "Look, we don't have to do anything. I know you would never urge me to do what I don't want to do and I just want to be the same. I don't want to put pressure on you, not for something like this." The hand that wasn't holding his hand came up to his face and stroked his cheek gently. "I would wait a thousand years if that's what you need."

Steve smiled and he grabbed her hand softly. He kissed the back of her hand and met her beautiful gaze. Natalie's phone rang and she quickly jumped to get it. "Shit, that's my boss." she exclaimed. "I'll be back in a few minutes, is that alright?"

"Of course." He said and frowned slightly at how quickly she had taken the phone. He didn't even know that she had a job, talk about settling down with her huh.

Natalie smiled tightly at then went into her kitchen. "_Natalie_ speaking." He heard her say then she let out a sigh. "Yes, why?" She then said in a fed up voice. He couldn't hear what the person on the other side of the phone said despite having an extremely good hearing. "There's no way!"

He settled back on the couch and his eyes were on the door that lead to the kitchen. "But-" Natalie began talking stopping right away. "Fine." She hung up and came back into the living room. She had an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry for all of this. My boss is a total asshole, I got to go."

Steve was disappointed but he wasn't going to show it. He wasn't disappointed because of her but because of her boss. "It's okay, I understand." He said getting up. "Dinah is coming over soon anyway."

Natalie rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "I forgot about her but I'll make it up to you for the work thingy." She said and grabbed her car keys with her jacket.

"I wish she wouldn't be coming over, I didn't have the heart to say no." Steve complained and accompanied her to her door. They walked outside her house together and walked down the front garden as they held hands.

"You're a good man, Steve." Natalie said as she unlocked her car and turned to him.

"Maybe too good for my own good." He added as he set his hands on her waist.

Natalie smiled and put her hands on his upper arm. "That's one of the things that I love about you." She defended and leaned in to kiss him. "Well, I gotta go."

"See you later." He replied after returning her kiss and smiled as he watched her leave. After that, he walked inside his own house and played with Punk for a little while. He put his phone on charge and walked over to his desk. He grabbed the envelop with his answer to the Avengers initiative and opened it. He read what he had written and grabbed another piece of paper to write some more things on it. He put the two pieces of paper into the envelop before setting it back to where it previously was.

Somebody knocked on the door, he sighed knowing who it was. He got up and opened the door with a polity smile on his face. "Hello, Dinah."

"Hi, Steve." She said with a soft smile on her face. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a bright red t-shirt. "How are you?" She asked as she rearranged the bag on her shoulder.

"I'm good, please do come in." He told her going aside so she had the space to get inside his house which she did. "How are you?" He asked her this time.

"Oh, I'm good. Thank you for accepting this." She said showing him the bag of food.

He simply gave her a smile and guided her into his kitchen. She thanked him and pulled out the food from the bag. He gave her the things she needed and looked at her. "Do you need my help?"

"Oh, no, no. You sit down and I cook, I'm the one saying sorry." She told him and began cooking.

"Alright." Steve said and picked up the bottle of wine that she had brought. He read the year and a bitter smile were brought to his lips. "1991, is that even a good year?"

"It is!" She told him with a smile while cutting the onions. "Go ahead, have a taste."

He stood up to take two wine glasses with the corkscrew. He opened the bottle and poured some wine into both of the glasses. He gave one to her and sat back down. He took a sip and nodded in agreement when she looked at him. "You were right, it is good."

She smiled and put the food to cook in the oven. "We're almost going to eat." She informed him and sat at the opposite of him. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I know that I might have scared you off. When I got home after I realized how much of a creepy woman you might have taken me for." She told him with a nervous tone. "I'm a nice person but somehow eccentric."

Steve looked at her and he saw how genuine what she said was. He smiled softly, he knew he might have judged her way too soon but she was very odd yesterday. Everybody deserved a second chance, right? "It's alright." He replied with a nice smile.

The two adults spoke a lot and when the time came, they ate. "Mm, it's really good." Steve commented after taking a bite.

Dinah smiled as she ate and swallowed. "Thank you."

Steve kept eating and looked up at the redhead woman. "Why didn't you become a cook instead of a pet shop owner?" He asked gently and put some food in his mouth.

"Well," She set down her fork. "Cooking is much more of a hobby than a passion. Animals are my true passion and I get to be my own boss straight away."

He nodded and kept on eating. "How long did you have the shop?"

"About two years, think." Dinah replied as she took another bite into her mouth. "Do you have a job?"

Steve shook his head and sipped his wine then sat down the glass. "No, I don't. Not yet."

"How can you afford this beautiful house?"

"oh, uh, a friend of mine pays for it while I settle down completely." He explained the best he could without saying that The Tony Stark was paying for his house so he could get used to live in this new century.

**Natasha's POV (hehe)**

Natasha was driving on her way back home, her hands were gripping the wheel. "Fuck it, fuck them!" She told herself groggily. Alexei had told her to come while she was spending a good moment with Steve, she wondered if he knew. How could he call he when he knew she would be with him.

She was getting the feelings that he was trying to get her busted. Today he told her the same he did last time. To seduce him, to make him fall for her so he would at his weakest. She didn't know what he intended to do with him once her job was done. She was dreading the day it would be done. She didn't want to lose him, she really liked Steve.

She parked in front of her house and put her head on the wheel and let out a sigh. When she raised her head up she saw that Steve was standing with that girl, Dinah, on the porch of his house. She watched with interest as the two were talking to one another.

Her eyes widened when she saw that Dinah had grabbed Steve's collar and put her lips on his. She wasn't surprised that she had kissed him, you could see it from miles away that she was attracted to him, what surprised her was that Steve hadn't pulled back.

She sighed and exited her car slamming the door loud enough for them to pull apart. She walked back inside her house without a glance even when she heard Steve call out her name.

She closed the door and locked it. She felt overwhelmed by the situation, she was liking Steve more than she should. She didn't what to do, their relationship wasn't official but that didn't mean that he could go ahead and let other women kiss him.

Yes, yes, she was jealous. How could Dinah dare to touch her man?

* * *

Hi! I have the two next chapters ready, when should I post them? I can't wait for your reactions!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ****10****: ****C****ome with me**

**Natasha's POV**

Banging on the door woke her up. Natasha groaned as she put a hand on her head and raised up from the couch. Last night, after coming back home and seeing Steve kiss Dinah, she had decided to drown her feelings in alcohol.

She sighed as the banging continued, she stood up knowing exactly who he was. "Go away!" She shouted to the door and sat back down. The person from outside the door seemed to be now banging with both of their hands.

She groaned and stood up again. She stormed to the door and opened in one flung. "What do you- Tony?" She asked, almost worryingly. Had he found out who she was? Her eyes turned from angry to wondering.

"Hello, Red. Where's Steve?" He asked, his usual smug look on his face.

"Try his house." She then added bitterly. "Or Dinah's."

Tony raised an eyebrow and a smirked played on his face. "Who would've thought he would spend the night at a woman's house?" He rhetorically asked and Natasha's jealousy boiled more.

"Well, he's not here." She told him and went to close her door but he stopped it with his hands. "What, again?"

"Do you mind if I stay here until he comes back?" He asked, but before she could reply he invited himself inside. "One day, a wise woman told me that I couldn't be a discreet person." He looked at her and gave her a smirk.

She rolled her eyes, she knew she was the one who told him that the day they met. He walked around her around her house to her kitchen. The billionaire made himself at home and pulled out a drink from fridge.

She watched him and slumped over one of the chair in her kitchen. "So, you guys banged yet?" Tony curiously questioned as he sat down in front of her facing the window.

She gave him a deadly look. "Get lost, Stark."

"Come on, you can tell me. I'm curious. It's time that he finds someone to break all of that remaining ice in him." He said as he sipped his drink.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, if he banged someone, it surely wasn't me."

Tony opened his mouth to say something but he closed it and smirked. "You bet your ass it wasn't you." He commented as his eyes looked behind her.

Natasha frowned. "What-" Then she turned around and looked through the window. She saw that Steve was standing in his kitchen and that Dinah was there, too. She fumed when she saw that the woman was wearing one of Steve's shirt. "That fucker!" She let it slip out before she could even stop herself and she stood up hurriedly. "Not ready, God!" She angrily walked to Steve's house and didn't even bother knock. She barged in and Tony hurriedly followed to see what she would do.

She stormed into the kitchen. "Are we bothering perhaps?"

Steve and Dinah were both startled by Natasha's outburst. "Nat, that's not–"

"Don't bother!" She stepped up to him. "You dare to tell me that you're not ready to be with me but yet you go ahead and kiss her! Nonetheless you sleep with her! I can't even believe that you, out of everyone, would ever lie to me!" She harshly said.

"Nat, listen to me."

"No!" She spitted out. "If you weren't so busy fucking her you would have heard your friend knocking at your day. Don't dare coming to my house, just leave me alone. Good day!" She told giving a deadly look to Dinah and went back to her house.

"I like her." She heard Tony said when she was on her way out.

Natasha was standing on her porch with a cup of tea in her hands. She watched the families and kids in the garden. Seeing people live their normal life always seemed to calm her down. It has been an hour since she had came to Steve's house. Dinah had quickly left after Natasha.

She knew she could have jumped into conclusion too fast but she was jealous. In her mind there was no other reasons why she would have stayed the night after kissing him. She sighed, she recalled that last night he had called out her name.

Her hands lifted the cup of tea to her lips and she breathed before gulping the remaining inside. She was clouded by her thoughts, she didn't see Steve coming out of his house and walk into her garden. He was at her porch when she saw him and she quickly got up. She walked into her house and closed the door after her but of course he followed her.

"Nat." He called out after he closed the door. But she was ignoring him and walked away, Steve grabbed her arm gently and turned her to him. "Nat, let me explain."

"Unhand me." She told him.

"Listen to me, please." He said releasing her arm. "I didn't sleep with her."

Natasha went to leave again but Steve grabbed her and gently pushed her against the wall of her hall. His two big arms were blocking her from going away. "Steve." She coldly said, she wasn't going to hurt him so she tried her best to make him go from her.

"Let me talk then I'll leave you alone." He sighed and looked into her eyes. "Last night Dinah brought wine and she drank most of it. I was going to let her go home when she kissed me and she was too drunk to go home. I let her sleep over and I gave her a shirt so she wouldn't stain her clothes."

Natasha looked up to him straight in his eyes. "How do you expect me to believe you?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"You let her inside your house, Steve. You didn't even pulled back when she kissed you! I thought that we could make us work, that we could become an actual couple but apparently I was wrong."

Steve's hands traveled to her face and he cupped both of her cheeks. "I see myself with you, Nat." He looked at her in her eyes. "I mean it, I would never do that to you. I want to be with you, I don't care about her. I only care about you and nobody else, you're the light in my darkness. I didn't think I would be okay again and you unknowingly helped me to adapt to this new life."

"Steve..." She sighed. "You can't say those things, you don't know me. You have no clue who I am, I'm just–"

"An incredible woman is who you are. I know enough about you to acknowledge that. When we went at the Festival, you helped this old woman who had dropped her bag without even thinking." He argued with a smile. "The other day the Fraser's child hurt himself and you brought him home after healing his wound, you thought nobody saw you but I did."

Natasha looked up at him with incomprehension, she was not understanding why he was saying all of those things to her right now.

Steve pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and kept on going. "You pretend you don't like dogs but I've seen you with Punk, I know you love playing with that dog. You like having fresh and cold water in your fridge even on rainy and cold days. You love curling up in a ball while watching a movie and when you get nervous you bit your lips."

"Why are you saying all of this, Steve?"

"Because all of those little things made me fall in love with you." He softly said and stroked her cheek. "I love you."

"You… you love me…?" She questioned in a barely audible voice.

"I do."

Natasha looked up at him with a shocked expression on her face, she didn't know how to respond to that. The only she managed doing was kissing him. She had grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his head down to hers. Steve was kissing her back.

When they pulled to breath, he looked at her with a smile. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"I'm sorry for my reaction, I've never been in a healthy relationship before." She said biting her lips nervously.

Steve smiled. "We'll learn how make this work together." He said taking her hand and leaned down to kiss her again.

***following is practically not graphic, don't worry***

Their arms were wrapped against each other as they kissed more and more. Steve brought Natasha to her couch and sat down with her on it. The two began to make out on her couch again.

At some point, Natasha ended up on Steve's lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled back when Steve's hand traveled up inside her t-shirt. "I thought you said you weren't ready."

Steve looked at her and put one of his hand on her cheek. "I am ready. I'll be ready to do anything with you, Nat. I love you, I want you."

"Then we should do this the right way." She told him before getting up from his lap. She took his hand and pulled him up. She then lead the two of them upstairs to her bedroom.

Natasha's head was laying on Steve's shoulder as she stroked his chest with the top of her fingers. He was stroking her bare back softly, his hand moved up and down. The two were still naked as they were tangled together.

"Steve?" Natasha called out as her fingers were still stroking his incredible chest.

"Yes?" He looked down at her softly.

She looked up at him and her face features softened. Her hand traced the line of his jaw as she locked her eyes with his. "I meant to say…. I love you, too."

Steve smiled brightly and kissed her. "I love you." He breathed against her lips.

_**Two days later**_

Natasha and Steve were in her kitchen, they were cooking together while listening to music. The blonde man chuckled when Natasha began singing softly to the song, he thought it was a very cute thing she did.

Steve wrapped his big arms around Natasha as she cut the strawberries into slices. He had fun poking her softly with his fingers. He put his head on the crook of her neck while watching the movement of hands.

"Nat?" He asked softly.

"Yes, babe?" She replied, the nickname new to her lips and to his ears, but definitely not strange.

"Babe? I kind of like that." He commented as he stole a strawberry.

Natasha complained about the stolen strawberry and turned around in his arms. "So do I."

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." He said taking her hand.

She gave him a strange look and wondered what he was about to say. She nodded as an encouragement for him to keep going.

"When Tony came the other day, he informed me of something I would have never thought being possible." He said, his face changing emotion. "He told me that my best friend, Bucky, was still alive. I don't know how it is even possible after so many years but Tony asked me to come to New York so the team and I could find him because he's somewhere around and nobody knows."

Natasha squeezed Steve's hand comfortingly. She was wondering who Bucky was, there was nobody in his file with that name, he had never spoken about him to her.

"So, I'm going to move back to New York and I was wondering if you would come with me?"

She thought about it for a brief moment and nodded. "Of course." She almost immediately said, she genuinely wanted to be with him and now she could if she was away from her boss.

Steve smiled and he kissed her. "Great."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Capsicle's girlfriend**

**Steve's POV**

"I can't believe we're going to New York." Natalie told him as she grabbed onto his hand. The two of them were sitting next to each other in a plane Stark had provided. She was sitting near the window, he had let her seat there since he had already traveled between the USA and Scotland.

Her eyes were looking out to the small landscapes that she could see from above. "This is so exciting." She said as she looked back at him. Steve felt himself smile as he looked at her with love and happiness. The way that she was so excited about going to New York and meeting his new friends was putting him in a good mood.

"Well, we are going to be discovering the new city together." He informed her, knowing for sure that she has never been to New York and that he hadn't seen the city since the battle. Actually, he had left for Scotland the day right after the Chitauri attack. "Once we've found Bucky, of course. I can't believe that he's still alive."

Natalie squeezed his hand as she laid her head back on the seat. "Tell me what he was like in the forties." She said with a comforting smile on her lips.

Steve smiled softly and looked back at her. "He was… a very good guy, very brave and loyal. He was the only friend that I had, actually. The only one who accepted me not matter what I looked like or no matter the fact I could never stand down." He said with a chuckle. "It didn't matter to him that I was standing up for what I believed though he was a huge headstrong man. Unlike everyone else, he didn't think that I looked any different than anybody." He shook his head with a smile and looked downward for about a second before setting his eyes on her again. "He even tried to get me to settle down, I lost count of how many double dates he took me on."

"Did he ever happen to be your date?" Natalie smirked teasingly as amusement was shown in her eyes.

He laughed and shook his head. "No. At least I don't think so, I always flew away whenever I could." His mind traveled back to his own time, remembering every moment of their friendship.

"Think about all of those great things you're going to get back." Natalie said as she bought him back into the moment.

Steve nodded with a smile. He always felt a pang in his heart whenever he thought about the life he missed with his friends and with Peggy but he knew that if it hadn't all happened, he would have never met Nat. "He was quite the ladies man, you know." He spoke again after a little moment of silence.

"Then I suppose he's going to get along with Stark." She commented with a soft chuckle.

Steve laughed. "I think so."

Steve turned his head softly as he looked down at the woman he loved, asleep on his shoulder. He had an arm wrapped around her lovingly and he pulled back a strand of her hair that had fell on her face, the gesture caused her to snuggle closer to him. They were halfway through the travel.

He called the flight attendant and asked for some water with some food. He knew that Natalie was always thirsty when she woke up and they hadn't eaten anything since they left Scotland.

He felt Natalie stir in her sleep as she sighed softly and opened her eyes slowly. Steve smiled and whispered sweetly. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Good morning? I haven't slept that long, have I?" Natalie said and blinked a few times yo adjust to the light before looking up at him.

"You slept for the past hour or so." He informed her and she gasped softly as her body leaned back.

"That long?" She really seemed surprised. As if she never slept during a flight. "What did you do while I was asleep?"

Steve took her hand in his and stroked the back of it with his thumb in a gentle way. "Watched you sleep and organized some thoughts." He replied with a soft shrug.

She laughed silently. "How far are we?"

"We still have two hours to go." He replied after checking his watch.

The flight attendant came back with the glass of water and some food. She put them on the small table of the jet and walked back to where she previously was.

"I was going to suggest that we play some game but I'm thirsty and _apparently_ hungry." She said as she put a hand over her stomach when her belly growled. Steve laughed as she picked up the glass of water and drank some.

Steve looked at her and smiled knowingly. He took some food and ate. Natalie drank her whole glass of water and gulped down some food. The two ate as they made small conversation about the new movie Steve and her had watched before they left.

"Okay, now let's play a game." She suggested as she settled back into the seat.

"What kind of game?" He asked.

"The only one that comes in mind right now is Truth or Dare."

"Oh, dear God."

* * *

The couple landed in New York after hours of flight. They were inside a car that Stark had sent them with his own personal chauffeur, Happy. "How long are you staying in town?" He asked as he drove.

"For as long as it takes to do my mission." Steve replied with ease and looked at Happy through the wearer mirror with a polite smile. "Oh, by the way, this is my girlfriend." He told him as he held Nat's hand.

"Hi." She waved awkwardly but he saw the small smile of happiness on her face. He knew that it was the very first time he had introduced her as his girlfriend.

Natalie looked at Steve. "I'm kind of stressed about meeting your friends." She genuinely revealed softly so only him could hear. He squeezed her hand and shook his head softly.

"You don't have to be, they're nice people." He assured. "Plus you already know Stark."

"Well, I'm more annoyed of seeing him than stressed." She gave him a look and he laughed again. "When he came the first thing he asked me was if we did it."

"Did what?" He asked with a slight frown.

A soft breath escaped her mouth as a smile formed itself on her face."No matter how many times we did it you're still innocent, it's cute." She commented before pursing her lips.

"Oh, _that_." He said realizing what she was talking about. He nodded and chuckled softly.

"I'm totally clueless."

Natalie smirked softly and said. "Clueless but cute." She then kissed him with a soft laugh.

"I won't comment on that." Steve kissed her back, he loved kissing her. Gosh, he loved her so much. She was the anchor of his happiness.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but we have arrived at the tower." Happy said as he stopped the car and unbuckled himself.

Steve got out of the car and went to open his love's car door. She smiled up at him and looked back at Happy. "Thank you for the ride." Natalie said as she went out of the car.

"Hey, that's what I'm supposed to do." Happy said complaining slightly as he looked at Steve before adding. "But whatever."

Steve took Natalie's hand and leaded her to the lobby then in the elevator of the tower. "Hello, Captain Rogers. Welcome back." A male British voice sounded through the elevator. Natalie was slightly startled by the sudden voice.

The blonde man laughed lightly. "It's just Jarvis, I was even more scared than you when I first came here." He told her as he looked at her softly. "It's one of Tony's AI. Jarvis, this is Natalie Rushman."

"Welcome in the tower, Miss Rushman." The AI spoke again.

"Thank you." She said and looked around with unsure eyes.

When the doors of the elevator opened, they walked out and went to the common room where the other Avengers were. He felt her grab onto his hand tightly and he gave her a supportive look. "It's okay." He said softly so only her could hear what he was saying.

"Capsicle!" Tony cheered as he got up from his place on the couch. "You're here. Red as well." He smirked and looked at her with a teasing expression. "Your little crisis is over yet?"

"Fuck off, Stark." She burst out and gave him a bad look.

"I already like her." Clint spoke up and raised from the couch. He joined the two lovers and smiled. "I'm Clint, The Hawkeye." He smugly informed Natalie.

"Guys, this is my girlfriend, Natalie." Steve announced with a happy smile on his face. He looked at the said woman and saw her blush slightly which make him chuckle softly.

"So, now you're Capsicle's girlfriend." Tony acknowledged with a teasing smile.

"I am." She proudly replied and smirked. "Why, you jealous?"

The billionaire rolled his eyes. "Not one bit."

Clint smirked then pointed to the two other men in the living room. "Apparently they won't introduce themselves, so this is Bruce Banner aka the Hulk." The doctor waved and shyly said hi. "And this is Thor, aka Thor the God." The Archer jokingly said.

"Miss Natalie!" Thor exclaimed as he leaped forward them and took the couple in his arms. "Welcome into our little family!"

"Family? We barely know each other." Bruce spoke up with eyebrows raised.

"Isn't that the definition of family?" Tony asked as he went up to pour himself a drink.

Everyone looked at each other after his comment, none of them had a good family or even had one. Steve cleared his throat. "So, maybe we could start digging?"

"Already? You just arrived." Clint pointed out. "I'm pretty sure your girlfriend is jet lagged."

"Nat." The said woman spoke up. "The girlfriend's name is Nat and I am not so much jet lagged." She shrugged slightly as she looked at the archer.

The doors of the elevator opened and Happy came into the room. Everyone turned to look at him even though his eyes were on Steve and Nat. "Your stuff has been moved into your floor except this little buddy." He said holding up the cage with Punk in it.

"Thank you, Happy." Steve and Nat said at the same time and looked at one another with a funny look in their eyes. The blonde guy walked up to Happy and took the cage to set it on the floor. Once done, he opened it to free the dog who hurriedly walked out of it.

"Hey, buddy." Nat said as she knelt and called over the dog. Punk walked past Steve to her and he looked at him go. She chuckled and picked up the dog. "He does love me more."

Steve stood up and rolled his eyes playfully. "Whatever."

"I think I will walk him around while you guys start working." She announced as she looked at everyone then at her boyfriend.

The soldier walked up to her and kissed her. "You sure?"

"Of course." She replied after returning his kiss.

"I could come with you." Thor spoke up as he rose from the couch and went to them. "I won't be of any help, I have no clue how your magic work in this realm."

"For the last time, Thor, it's not magic it's technology." Tony annoyingly said as he looked at the God.

He ignored his comment and looked at Natalie. "Is that fine?"

"Of course." She nodded and grabbed the dog's leash. She kissed Steve's cheek. "See you later." Then she, the dog and Thor went inside the elevator and left.

Steve watched them leave and went to the reunion room with Tony, Bruce, Clint and Happy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 1****2****: ****Only good things, I hope**

**Natasha's POV**

Natasha looked up at Steve with a soft expression in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want me to come?" She asked him with light pleading eyes. Steve and the team were leaving to check the leads they had on Bucky's possible locations. Natasha still didn't know who he was, she was not allowed to get into the reunion room when the guys were working.

"You'll be safer here," He told her. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt, Nat."

Natasha wanted to smirk but she kept it all inside. He didn't know what she was capable of doing, she knew that if he knew she would be the one saving his ass all the time. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Don't worry." He replied and kissed her.

She kissed him back and smiled softly. "Come on, go get your friend."

"But before," He began talking but kissed her again. Clint and Bruce pulled Steve away from Natasha's lips.

"Come on, lover boy." Clint said as he pulled him towards the Quinjet.

"Bye." He waved at her before going into the Quinjet.

"Bye." She whispered to herself as she waved back and watched them leave. A sigh escaped her lips. She was not feeling okay with staying here alone and she feared that Steve would get hurt.

Natasha laid in Steve and hers' bed in their room in the Avengers tower as she eyed up the ceiling. She was bored, so bored. She was alone in the tower and had no idea what to do. She hadn't Steve since he left with the team to find that guy, Bucky, and she was missing him a lot. She wished she could contact him but found that she couldn't because she was afraid to receive bad news from him saying that his friend was dead, but mostly the reason she hadn't was because she didn't know how to contact him.

She kind of felt stupid for feeling that way but she couldn't bring herself to call, she didn't want to be the reason for their mission to be ruined. Well, no matter how she felt about that, it wasn't as if he had tried to call her either but she knew he missed her as much as she missed him.

She laughed to herself. Her, _the_ Black Widow, the best spy in the world, had absolute no idea where The Avengers were. It was hard to track people when you have to pretend that you aren't a spy.

When she met the team, everything went right and Steve had introduced her to his teammates as his girlfriend. She was smiling just at the thought, her heart was always beaming with happiness whenever she was with Steve or whenever she thought of him.

Steve and the rest of the Avengers had stayed in the tower for almost two weeks as they collected as many leads on Bucky's location as possible. She had talked with the team and they were really nice people. She knew that Steve felt jealous when she spent her evenings watching movies with his friends and she absolutely loved that side of him.

Unfortunately, the team had left about three weeks ago and ever since then she was all alone in the Avengers' tower. Alexei, her boss, knew about that and he kept ordering her to hack into the system of the building so him and Hydra could have access to all of the information the Avengers had. Of course, she refused, she could never do anything like that and she didn't want to live that kind of life anymore.

Today, Alexei called her for the hundredth time. Only this time was different because today she succumbed and answered his call. "Hello?"

"_Natalia!_" His angry voice growled through the phone, in Russian. "_Where have you been? You didn't answer any of my calls._" Now, when you heard that kind of sentences, you'd think that the person is worried about you but it was all the contrary. Alexei was a cruel, ruthless man and he would have had her killed or, worst Steve killed if she kept ignoring him. "_Where is the target?_"

"_I don't know._" She said, her first language rolling off her tongue. Annoyance could be heard in her voice. "_I haven't heard from him for weeks._"

"_Do not lie to me, Natalia._" He slowly warned in a calm, way to calm voice.

"_I am not! He left for a secret mission with the team._" She told him; almost whispering in the phone. "_You except me to be discreet but you are not. You're so stupid to be calling me there, straight in the tower. It's probably the most secured system in the world_."

"Do not call me stupid, you bitch!" He yelled through the phone, this time speaking in English. "_When that bastard comes back I want you to kill him!_" He added, going back to Russian.

"_What? I thought– I thought– he wasn't supposed to die. I wasn't meant to kill him!" _She defended with panic, her heart racing.

"_Do you want to freedom or not_?" He rhetorically asked her. He spoke again when she didn't say anything. "_That's what I thought. When the captain comes back, you will work your special magic and send him don't to his grave. And don't even try to fake his death because I will know._"

"_Listen very carefully Alexei._" She said gaining more confidence, her tone was cold and angry. "_I would rather die than kill him. You and your monkeys can go to hell!"_ She told him and hung up the phone. She blocked the number and tossed aside the phone on the bed.

She sighed as she pulled her up in a messy ponytail. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, miss Rushman?" The British voice sounded through the bedroom.

"Do you happen to have any information about Captain Rogers' location?"

"No, I'm afraid not." He informed her. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Oh, no. Please, don't call me ma'am." She begged as she looked up to nowhere. "I'm not that old."

"What would you like to be called, Miss?"

Natasha thought about it for a moment and smiled softly. "Just call me Nat."

"Alright, Nat."

_**Two days later**_

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Jarvis' voice erupted in the room and stopped Natasha from reading her book. Punk was laying beside her, sprawled on the couch and sleeping.

"What did I tell you, Jarvis?" She closed the book and shook her head with an amused smile.

"Sorry, Nat." The AI corrected itself. "But Captain Rogers and the team have arrived." He informed her.

"What?!" She exclaimed as she shoot right up on both of her feet. "They're home?"

"Yes. They just arrived, they are on the deck."

She smiled brightly and threw the book backwards on the couch. Punk stayed unmoved, he was fast asleep and was apparently planning on sleeping for a few more minutes – or hours, who could tell?

Natasha began running through the tower towards the deck. "Thank you, Jarvis." She almost yelled and went outside. "Steve!" She excitedly squealed when she saw him stand there. He seemed to have been the first one to have gone out of the Quinjet.

"Nat!" He said and caught her when she leaped towards him. They hugged each other tightly and smiled like two idiots in love, which they were.

"Aww. They're so sweet, I want to puke." Clint commented as he exited the Quinjet alongside with Tony who gave Natasha a hard look. The other guys were coming out one by one.

Natasha pulled back from the hug and kissed Steve. "Oh, I missed you." She said against his lips and sighed happily.

"I missed you, too." He said and returned her kiss. He pulled back and he looked at her with such a loving and sweet expression that she was sure she could melt right here, right now. Happiness was written all over both of their faces. Steve pulled some hair behind her ear gently and added. "We found him."

Natasha immediately knew what he was talking about and disbelief came across her face. She smiled again. "You did? Oh, Steve that's incredible!"

"I know, I know." He said almost as if he still didn't believe that they found his childhood friend and then he went to capture her lips in a sweet kiss when she was suddenly pulled away from him.

"What– Thor!" She squealed with a laugh. "Put me down, now!" She struggled to get out of his arms.

The God laughed amusingly and hugged the woman as he held her up from the ground. "I'm happy to see you, Natalie."

"No, no, just Nat." She said struggling to get back on the ground and laughed. "Put me down!" She repeated and this time he did put her back on the ground.

When she was saying hello to everybody she hadn't seen that Steve's friend had joined them all on the deck. "You know, it's good to have you back, Bucky." Steve told his long-lost friend with a smile as he pulled him into a hug.

Bucky wrapped his human arm around Steve as he hugged him back. The two men hugged then pulled back. "This might not be the right time but there's somebody that I'd like for you to meet." The blonde guy announced as he looked back to where Natasha stood a few feet back.

She was with the other teammates, her back was facing Steve and Bucky. She turned around when she heard those words come out from Steve's mouth. She approached them and her eyes fell on Bucky. The smile on her face fell slightly and her emerald eyes grew two sizes at least.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. _Bucky was James, James was Bucky_, one of the puppets of Hydra that had trained her in the Red Room. They had been good friends back then, not that anybody knew. When he disappeared, her and the other girls were told that he went on a mission. She hadn't seen him for the past eight years but she knew there was absolute no way he wouldn't recognize her.

But James had been brainwashed a couple of times, right? There was no way he could recognize her, right? She hoped he wouldn't or that if he would he wouldn't say anything to Steve. Natasha may be a ruthless spy but she had fallen in love with the soldier and she didn't want to lose him or his love.

Steve turned slightly towards Bucky and wrapped an arm over his friend's shoulder.

"Bucky, this is Natalie. A very special friend of mine."

Bucky was about to say something on his friend's statement but was cut short when his eyes landed on someone he wouldn't have thought was still alive. He held his face, not showing any surprise and smiled. "I thought you had changed, now I know why." He commented and held out his human hand towards her. "Nice to meet you, _Natalie_."

"Likewise, _Bucky_. I've heard a lot about you." She said shaking his hand and concealing her face. She didn't want Steve or anybody else to know why she was with Steve in the first place. He had such a beautiful view of her and she didn't him to see how much of a horrible person she actually was.

Bucky simply nodded with a soft smile and looked at Steve before looking back at her. "Only good things, I hope."

"Of course." She nodded in agreement.

"Come inside, it's about to rain." Bruce called out the three adults that were remaining on the deck.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Everything's alright in there?**

**E****verybody****'s POV, ****from now on the ****POV's**** will be this way as it is easier ;)**

Steve was very happy, he had his best friend back. He was his only connection to his old life and he was very glad that he was still alive and mostly the same. Well, he looked exactly the same except that his hair were much longer than before and he was quieter but he knew why; When he and the team searched for Bucky, they found out about some things that he was put through by Hydra.

He was also happy to have reunited with Nat, he had missed her a lot those three last weeks and it made him realize what his feelings truly were for her. He did not only love her, he was in love with her and he was sure of his feelings. It amazed him how in only four months, he started to get more used to this new world, got a dog, met an amazing woman, fell in love with her and got his best friend back. It was all almost unbelievable.

He watched as the two people he loved the most, talking briefly with each other before Bruce called them from the inside. He took Nat's hands in his and went inside the common room, Bucky was following them inside and noticed that Stark had already began drinking.

"Where's Punk?" Steve asked as he looked at his girlfriend.

Natasha was about to reply but Bucky spoke up. "If I recall well, you're punk."

Steve let out a laugh and lightly shook his head. "No, I wasn't speaking about myself. We adopted a dog and it was its name."

"We?" Natasha and Bucky asked as the same time and looked briefly at one another.

"Yeah, alright, _I_ adopted a dog. A puppy actually." Steve corrected and looked at his two favorite persons.

"Punk's sleeping on the couch in the common room." Natasha informed him as she walked towards him. "Why don't we go take a shower then dress up correctly so we could walk him around a bit? If you don't mind."

Steve smiled. "That's an excellent idea. I'll hop in first." He kissed her cheek and grabbed his bag pack. He leaned in and whispered. "Or you can join me." He looked back at her with a little knowing smile on his lips.

Natasha pursed her lips and looked back at him. "Go ahead." She chuckled pushing him gently towards the elevator. Her eyes set on Tony. "By the way, almost everyday that woman came by and asked news of you. I believe her name is Pepper or something like that."

"Yeah, she's my..." The billionaire trailed off and cleared his throat. "I know who she is."

The woman nodded and smirked slightly. "Maybe you should call her, tell her you're home and safe." She suggested him. "And that you want to see her."

"What? I do no–"

"Cut the bullshit." She interrupted him before he could even finish talking. "As being the only woman in this tower you should try not to forget that I am a woman and that I notice these things. Your eyes lit up when I spoke of her, you're in love with her and with the way she cared to come by everyday for three weeks I can tell she's in love with you. Nobody would bother doing that if they weren't in love." She shook her head and shrugged slightly. "Anyway, this is not any of my business and my lovely boyfriend is waiting for me." She announced before going to the elevator.

"What did she just say about me?" Tony asked after watching her leave and Bruce leaned in towards him.

"That you were in love with Pepper." Bruce said.

Clint turned towards Thor and held out his hand. "You owe me 20 bucks."

"Did you make a bet on me?" Tony demanded as he looked at the two men. "And just 20 bucks on me? Really? I'm worth at least a 100."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we're not all billionaires here. It isn't like we're getting paid for saving the world." He saw that everybody, even Bucky, gave him a weird look. "But I love doing it tho."

"Where am I staying?" Bucky spoke up and earned a look from the Avengers.

"Here. Steve's floor." Tony said before grabbing some keys from the counter. "Don't wait for me, boys." He said before leaving the tower.

Bruce went to Bucky. "Come with me, I'll show you around."

"I feel like you're the most rational one here."

The scientist laughed and shrugged. "I don't think so, I can get… pretty bestial."

Natasha and Steve climbed out of the shower and each wrapped their own towels around their bodies. The redhead got an extra towel for hair that she pulled up and she stood in front of the mirror.

Steve came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His head rested lovingly on his shoulder and it made her smile. She pulled her head against his gently and looked at him through the window. "I could stay like this forever." She whispered out loud.

"Me, too." He dreamily said before kissing her cheek. "I'll get dressed and get Punk. Take all your time."

Natasha turned around in his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know, you should never tell a woman to take her time. Because she will take her time and more and more."

"As long as we get to spend time together afterwards, this is fine by me." He told her with a smile.

She chuckled. "Now that's a good answer." She commented and kissed him softly.

Steve put his hand on the back of her neck as he returned her kiss. His thumb stroked her cheek lovingly before pulling his lips back. She smiled at him and turned around again, this time facing towards the mirror. He kissed her cheek before leaving the room to get dressed and to get the dog.

Natasha removed the towel from her hair and used it to dry her hair. She did it for a few minutes and put it aside. She walked to the room and went inside the dressing room. She picked a few clothes and set them on the little bench in the middle of the room. The redhead was deciding which shows she was going to wear when she felt someone come inside the room. She thought that it was Steve. "Did you forget something?" but no response came and she turned around. "Stev– James?"

"What are you doing here?" Bucky asked as he stepped into the room.

"I could ask you the same thing." She said, her eyes turning dangerous.

He walked closer. "I know that you are not here in vain. Did they sent you? What are your intentions?"

She ignored him and turned around to pick her clothes up but he grabbed her arm and turned her again. "Tell me! Are you here to kill him?"

"How dare you!" She roughly pulled her arm away from his grip and pushed him away with both of her hands. "I would never do that to him! Believe it or not but I love him and I could never hurt him."

"They sent you, didn't they?" He said through gritted teeth.

"Don't you dare to act like this, to act as if you were the only one who were forced to work for them. You've had your own freedom, you got away I don't see why it would be different for me!" Her eyes fumed at his. "He is the one who helped me get away and there's nothing you could do or say would change it."

Bucky crossed his arms across his chest and looked at her. He was about to say something when somebody else into the room. "Everything's alright in there?" Tony asked as he sneaked up into the dressing room.

"Of course." Natasha said and looked at the two men. "Could you leave? Both of you? I need to get dressed."

"Alright." Tony said and left the room with Bucky. As they walked to the elevator shaft. "Do you speak Russian?"

Bucky raised his eyebrows and looked back at the billionaire. "I do, why?"

"I might need your help with something."

"I think you should ask Steve instead of me." Bucky said and entered the elevator.

Tony hummed and walked inside as well while Natasha was getting dressed. She let her her hair down and let them dry out naturally. After she was ready, she joined Steve and Punk.

_**3 days later**_

"No!" Natasha squealed. "It's not true!"

"Yes, it is. You know it is true you just don't want to admit it!" Steve defended with a playful tone.

"You cannot say they belong together! They are way too different, I'm fucking rooting for Nick."

"Nick? They are just friends! And I'm rooting for Sam." He chuckled when she pouted.

Last night, after a date the two lovers got home and finished the first season of their new favorite TV show: New Girl.

Natasha smirked slightly and cracked up an eyebrow. "We were friends in the beginning, remember? Look at us, now." She shrugged and turned over on the couch when Punk came barking in. "Ah, I think he wants to go out."

"I'll grab my shoes." Steve said before dropping a kiss on her lips.

Tony came in the room when the soldier was tying up his shoes. "Where is Bucky?"

"In the training room, I think. Why?"

"Bruce is looking for him." Tony quickly replied and walked out again.

Steve gave Natasha a strange look. "That's odd."

"No, it's not." She answered and took the dog's leash.

Bucky walked into Tony's lab with a wondering look. "Bruce told me you were looking for me?"

"Yes," Tony looked at Bucky. "You know who she really is, and I think I do, too." He announced and Bucky carefully walked closer to him. "But I want to make sure that I did not make a mistake, so, I need your help." He turned over to his computer and typed something on the hologram-like keyboard. "I need you to translate this for me." He added before the brunette could even reply.

On the computer screen, a video footage appeared of Natasha standing in her bedroom with a phone over her ear. "A few days before we got back here, she received this phone call and unfortunately for me, it's all in Russian."

"Do you have cameras in every room?" Was the only thing that Bucky had been able to say. He looked from the computer screen to Tony who gave him a shrug.

"Almost. There is none in the bathrooms."

"Okay..." He trailed off and his head turned back to the computer screen. "Play the video."

He placed a hand on the desk as he listened to the conversation, he recognized the man's voice. He listened and, at some point, he frowned. His eyes traveled to Natasha's face on the computer and saw that she looked scared, which was something he had only seen once in his life.

When Tony saw the frown on Bucky's face, he paused the video and abruptly searched for his eyes. "What did they say? Who is she speaking to?"

Bucky took a breath and momentarily decided what his next reply would be. "Assuming you know who she is, you have to promise me that no harm will come to her." He gave him a serious look and went on talking. "She's speaking with Alexei, he's one of the superior agents of Hydra though he is the one who has less impact. He must have tried everything to get to be one of the highest superior agents and when he heard of Steve's comeback, he sent his best asset: Natalie, whose name is actually Natalia. There, on the footage, he's asking her why she didn't return any of his calls. Then, he gives her new orders; she has to kill Steve, but she refuses and basically send him off."

Tony listened to Bucky's words and nodded slowly. He thought it over for about a second and met his gaze. "So, she was sent to kill Steve?"

"Apparently, his death was not a part of the original scenario. Why are you asking this?"

"Why did she refuse?"

"To kill him?" Bucky gave him a tight smile. "Because she could never hurt someone she cares about, nonetheless someone she's in love with."

"Her feelings are genuine?" He asked – actually, he more stated out. His eyes were looking around the room. "Did they say anything else?"

Bucky nodded. "I don't know if this is going to help but it seems that watching over Steve was supposed to be her last mission. She's earning for her freedom, if Alexei finds her God only knows what he'll do."

Tony's face looked like his brain was fuming. He was taking in the new information he discovered. He looked at Bucky with worried and guilty eyes. "I made a terrible mistake."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Natalia

Natasha held Steve's hand as they walked back to the tower. With her left hand, she held Punk's leash carefully. They were coming back from Punk's walk when Steve set his eyes on her with a smile on his lips. "Babe?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Natasha diverted her eyes from the street to return his gaze. She loved it when he caller her 'babe'.

"Would you like to go on a date, tonight?" He asked softly and watched as her eyes light up and her smile grew in sizes. "It's been quite some time."

"I would very much like to." She replied, her whole self beaming with happiness. Those past months, she has been feeling happiness more and more and it was all thanks to Steve. He was the only one who had showed her what it was like to be truly happy. "Where are we going?"

Steve opened the door of the tower for her to get inside before him and she gladly stepped inside. "I want to see how much Brooklyn changed and if the places I knew are still here."

"Ooh, there's this coffee shop we went to with Thor that is a really great place. We could stop by." She suggested as she looked back to him.

Steve hummed with a slight nod. He was right behind Natasha when she went to call for the elevator. There was something that bothered him deeply, he hated to admit it but he knew this feeling was there inside of him. He was quite bothered by the fact that Natasha had first visited New York with Thor and not him as they had first planned before leaving Scotland.

He didn't know if she knew about his slight jealousy towards his friend and he hoped that he was succeeding in hiding this feeling. He got into the elevator with her and she knelt down to remove the leash from Punk. When she got back up, she took his hand in hers and smiled softly at him.

They waited for the elevator to take them to the common room. Step by step, they walked inside and held each other's hand.

As the doors of the elevator opened, Natasha's eyes met a group of men standing a few feet from them in the common room. She didn't recognized them nor did she know if they were friends or foes. She turned her eyes from them to Steve to see if he had seen them but he was looking at Punk go where it wanted to go. They stepped out of the elevator together and walked further towards the common room.

A gasp escaped her lips, she knew who they were, she went before Steve in a protecting position. She worriedly looked up at him. "Steve, go. Please, you need to leave. Now." Her hand laid across his chest and she slightly pushed him in the direction of the elevator.

"What?" He glanced from her to the men in the common room and a frown formed on his face. "Who are they?"

"I promise, I'll explain everything to you, I will. But you need to leave right now. Please, go. I don't want you to get hurt." Her voice shook and her eyes were glassy as the last words came out in a soft whisper.

"But there's no need to leave, Natalia, we just arrived." The voice she most dreaded came from behind her and her eyes closed along with her head that hung now low.

"Fuck." She mumbled then lifted her head and turned around slowly. Her eyes turned dark as they landed on the one person she never thought she'd see again: Alexei. She knew there was no way that Steve wouldn't hate her after what was bound to happen.

* * *

"I made a terrible mistake." Tony told Bucky with a guilty and worried look. "We need to her." He announced taking his Iron-Gauntlets before he rushed to the elevator. His fingers rapidly tapped on the calling button of the elevator. "Come on, come on."

Bucky arrived at his side. "Tony, please calm down and tell me what you did." He marched inside the elevator with the billionaire when the doors opened.

"I did something awful." He ashamedly said. His eyes went on Bucky. "I called them."

"Called who?" The brunette questioned with a frown.

Tony looked shameful and remorseful. Whatever he did seemed to be the biggest mistake he has ever made. "Hydra." He replied softly, so softly that if Bucky hadn't had the serum he wouldn't have been able to hear him.

He shook his head and gave him a harsh look. "You have no idea what you just did!"

"I know, it was pretty stupid." He sighed. "Jarvis, can you move it? We're kind of in a rush right now!"

"I'm sorry, Sir." The British voice spoke up. "But somebody is trying to hack into the system of the tower."

"What? My God they must be on their way."

"No, Tony. They're already here." Bucky said offering him a reassuring look. "I suggest we prepare to fight."

"Fight?" Tony asked. "The guys! Shit, I don't know where they are. Jarvis can you try to locate Barton, Thor and Bruce?"

"They're in the tower, sir, in the common room."

"Double shit!" Tony cursed, obviously angry at himself. He violently tapped on the button of the common room floor, as if it would help them go there faster.

"Tony," Bucky called out. "Doing this won't help them. You need to calm down, and organize your thoughts."

"Organize my thoughts?" He rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your help, Jesus."

Bucky frowned and stepped up to him. "Hey, if we're in this situation it's because you definitely thought wrong. Now, all you need to do is help them. Help her, she did nothing wrong."

"Not to us, at least." He grumbled as he began once again to violently tap the button.

"Tony, stop." Bucky sighed. "Tony." He called out again but the billionaire did not stop. He went to where he was, grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the buttons. The two men faced each other, their eyes locked on one another. It was not until the 'ding' of the elevator sounded that they pulled away from the other. Bucky let go of Tony's wrist and the both of them rushed to the common room.

Tony and Bucky gasped at the view but quickly hid themselves so the men wouldn't see them. There seem to be a least a dozen men whose muscles made them look like monsters. Two guys were holding Natasha's arm, she was on her knees and her head hung low.

Steve was on the other side of the room, two men were also holding him and the rest was keeping him away from Natasha. A tall guy with black hair, dressed in a suit and a three-days-old beard, stood in the middle of the room. Tony identified him to the boss, the leader.

"You see, Natalia, you had one thing to do." The man, spoke up, a thick Russian accent came out along with the words. "And we would've granted your freedom."

Bucky looked briefly at Tony and whispered. "It's Alexei."

Natasha raised her head, her eyes set on Alexei, all of the hatred she had for him could be seen. "We both know you would've never done that."

"But you believed it." He snickered and looked at her. "Now, what I don't understand is why you refuse to act on the orders given to you. Being the Black Widow made you do things that were, oh, so much worst." He told her, content in his voice, liking all the terrible things he made her do.

"The Black Widow?" Steve asked, a frown on his face. He had heard about the Black Widow. When Nick Fury suggested him to join the team, he had briefly evoked that person.

Alexei turned around, a smirk on his lips. "Oh, you still don't know. Your precious, little Natalia works for us." He said, stepping closer to the soldier. "Hydra." He murmured, the smirk still on his lips as he watched Steve's features change from confusion to hurt. "She was sent to kill you."

Natasha tried to free herself from the two men but they had a visceral grip on both of her arms. Steve looked at her. "Is that true?"

When she heard him speak, she stopped struggling and returned his gaze. "Steve…"

"She made you fall in love with her, didn't she?" Alexei questioned as he looked at Steve. "Made you think she loved you, too. But it's just a game for her. She's fake, she's false, she got you in her web." He declared, obviously enjoying the hurt in both of their faces.

"Don't listen to him!" She pleaded, struggling to get free again. Her new life was spilling, she was losing everything that she had always wanted. She couldn't let it happen, Steve couldn't know how much of a monster she was like that. Her eyes watered, the tears on were on the edge, threatening to fall on her cheeks.

Alexei ordered to the men who was holding her to yank her up. A shriek escaped her mouth as she was roughly pulled up. The leader marched to her and traced his fingers along her jaw. She turned her head and when he removed his fingers, she spit on him, straight to his face. He growled in rage and slapped her with such force that she fell back on the ground.

"We got to do something." Bucky said to Tony and revealed himself.

"Bucky, no!" Tony tried to grab his arm to pull him back to where they were hiding.

"Oh, this is my lucky day, isn't it?" Alexei rhetorically asked. "The winter soldier, offering himself to us."

"Let her go," Bucky confidently ordered. "Take me instead."

Natasha, who was freed from the men, raised up from the ground and began running towards Bucky's location. "James, run!" She ordered him. But before she could reach to him, Alexei had grabbed her arms and had yanked her backwards.

"But we just begun." Alexei whispered at her ear and she struggled to get free from his grip. He turned her towards Steve, his grip on her was harsh. "Please, do tell us, Natalia. What makes you incapable of killing him? He's just another piece of meat. What's so different about him than the other people you killed?" He grabbed a fistful grip of her hair. "He's just another life to destroy."

Natasha closed her eyes as he reminded her the dark side of her life. The tears fell down her cheeks as she sobbed softly. When she opened her eyes, she instantly met Steve's and her heart broke. He looked as through as he hated her. His eyes contained so much hurt and she knew it was her fault.

"Alexei, let her go." Bucky repeated as he walked up to him. Tony showed himself as he watched the brunette go.

"Bucky," He called out, warning him to not get too close to them.

Without another word, Alexei knocked out Natasha with a vase he found on a table nearby. He let her body fall on the ground as if she was nothing.

"Nat!" Steve yelled out and freed himself from the men that held him. At the same time, Tony and Bucky engaged into a fight with the men.

The soldier fought with the men that had held him. and saw Alexei tell something to two of his men but he was too far to hear it.

Alexei smirked as he looked at his men fight with the three other guys, he hovered over Natasha and cut a strand of hair of hers. He got back up and walked as if nothing was happening around him to the elevator.

* * *

Is there a ship for Bucky and Tony?


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: I would've seen it coming**

Natasha groaned, she felt pain, her whole head hurt. She slowly regained consciousness before her hand flew to the back of her head. When her fingers touched the wound she felt hot liquid and she knew she was bleeding. With a groan she raised herself from the ground in a sit-up position and she immediately noticed the state of the living room. Everything looked destroyed, everything _was_ broken. Pieces of glasses were on the ground, the table was wrecked in two and the couch, at some place, had been sliced in two. She frowned as her eyes watched the shape of the common room. She could not remember what had happened.

She stood up from the ground and suddenly dizziness surrounded her. "Oof." She left out in a small whisper. As her body turned around, her eyes glanced everywhere and a gasp escaped her mouth as she saw Bucky on the ground. "James!" She exclaimed and rushed towards him. She knelt by his side and shook him gently. "James? James?" She called out his name, hoping he'd wake up but he stayed unconscious. Her eyes traveled down his face and his torso where she saw multiples cuts. There was a big cut on the left side of his body and almost instantly, her hands went over it and pressed down on the wound. "Oh, my god." She said softly. "Please, don't die."

When her hands pressed over the wound Bucky groaned in pain. She worriedly looked at him. "Glad to know you're still alive." Tony declared as he rushed by Bucky's side and dropped off some bandages and medical applies. The billionaire looked up at Natasha. "You're going to remove your hands so I can lift up his shirt, once I've done it you put your hands back. Got it?" She nodded and did what was expected of her; she removed her hands from the wound and tony quickly pulled up Bucky's shirt. Her hands flew back to the wound. "Okay, uh, weird question. Did you call an ambulance?" She asked him.

Tony shook his head. "We have an infirmary two floors below." He looked down at the wound covered by Natasha's hands. "I mostly have no idea what I am doing." He confessed and grabbed a few compresses.

"Wait, he may need to go to the hospital." She said and lifted up her hands softly. A small ball of blood gushed out.

"What are you doing?" Tony questioned, freaked out by her actions.

Her fingers pressed around the wound softly and she examined it. She grabbed the compresses from Tony's hands and used them on the wound. "The wound is not deep, he should be fine. We need to make him a bandage and take him to the infirmary as soon as possible."

"You're used to this." The brunette commented as he helped the woman make a bandage for Bucky. "You've already done this before."

"I have a smaller version of what he has," She replied and slightly shrugged. "That his alter ego so kindly gave me."

Tony's mouth fell open as shock coursed through his whole body. He watched her, mouth half-open as she finished putting the bandages over Bucky's wound. He shook away the feeling when he heard the elevator coming. The two adults looked at each other, they immediately understood what each had to do.

Natasha went towards the broken table and took a gun that was laying on the ground. She checked the number of bullets as she hurried back by Bucky's side. She was facing away from Tony and her hands held up the gun in the direction of the elevator. Her eyes went hard, and concentrated. Lasting longer than it should, she patiently waited for the elevator doors to open.

Tony was wildly impressed by the position she had gotten herself into. He moved himself so that he was now knelt behind her with Bucky between them. "Steady." Natasha whispered when the elevator stopped at the floor they were in.

The doors of the elevator finally opened and the voices of two men were coming out from the elevator. "Fury's insane." One of them said as they both stepped out of the elevator.

"Woah, what happened there? Did a pillow fight turn wrong?" The other man wondered.

"Airheads," Natasha muttered and pulled down her gun. She put it back on the ground and turned her back to the two men.

Tony sighed in relief when he noticed that it was Clint and Bruce. "_Now _you come." He complained. "Come help me, we gotta bring him to the infirmary."

"Him?" Clint asked as he and Bruce stepped closer. "Oh, my God. What happened?"

Tony looked at Natasha then back the guys. "It doesn't matter, just help us."

Clint and Bruce walked closer to help Tony carry Bucky. The archer let out a grunt when they carefully lifted up Bucky. "Man, what does he eat? Where's Thor when we need him?"

The three men carried Bucky to the elevator with Natasha following them. She called for the elevator and helped them get the soldier to the infirmary. "Stacy should be here." Bruce said as they laid down Bucky on a bed.

"Bruce?" A female voice called out from behind them. "Who is that?" She asked, coming closer. The woman had short brown hair and brown eyes. Her hands went immediately to the wound and she opened the bandage Natasha had made. She examined it and nodded slowly to herself as she put her glasses back in place.

"Who is that?" Clint asked Tony who simply gave him a shrug.

The woman turned around. "Stacy Brito, head doctor of shield." She then turned to Bruce and asked him some medical applies she is going to need to heal the brunette. "What happened to him?" She asked, once she started to heal him. At first, she cleaned the wound then she closed cut with a needle.

Tony glanced towards Natasha's ways and back at the doctor. "Hydra attacked." He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting against the wall.

"What? Why?" Bruce's worriedly questions came in a hurry. He looked at the two persons who were present with an alarmed look.

"They came to find me." Natasha declared. She was standing at the foot of Bucky's bed and was watching Stacy heal him. When the words left her mouth, everyone went silent and stayed unmoved, even the doctor who stopped sewing for a second. When the redhead didn't add anything else, the woman began again.

She took in a breath and looked over at Tony. "Where's Steve?" She asked softly, pain in her eyes.

Tony was about to confess he had no idea when somebody else answered for him. "They took him." Bucky groggily said, his eyes slowly fluttered open as they took in the surroundings.

Natasha gasped. "They're gonna use him." She realized and her heart felt a huge pang. She knew it was her fault, she blamed herself, thinking that if she never accompanied him he'd be free right now. "Jarvis!" She called out. "Did you manage to record everything?" She demanded before the AI could even reply.

"Yes, Nat." The British voice spoke up. "Every recordings can be found in the storage room on floor 13, Miss." He quickly informed her.

She nodded and looked at Bucky. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yes. Go find him." He replied, half-asleep and a hand above the now closed wound. She nodded and hurried towards the elevator. Tony shook his head in her direction as he looked at Clint. "Go with her."

"What? I thought you were not the boss." He shrugged with both of his hands up in the air like a child. "Fine, _boss_." He added with a mocking face when Tony gave him a harsh look. He quickly went with Natasha to the elevator and together they went to the storage room.

"Let me guess, Tony told you to keep an eye on me." Natasha said as she looked at Clint. She was standing at the opposite of him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Kinda." The light blonde man responded as he glanced at her with an eyebrow raised up. "So, what happened?"

She returned his gaze giving a blank expression before looking back to the screen that indicated the floors above the doors. She refused to tell him, enough people hated her now. She didn't want another nasty look from a man.

The two quickly arrived on the thirteenth floor and they hurried into the storage room. Clint sat down and went to start going through the files but Natasha beat him to it. She was standing up and bending to reach the keyboard. "There it is." She mumbled as she clicked on the video footage from earlier.

Clint raised his eyebrows as he watched Natasha fight with some of Alexei's men before they managed to get hold of her. "You sure know how to fight." He told her, impressed by her skills but again, she stayed silent. They both watched the footage and he looked at her when Alexei announced who she really was. Natasha kept her eyes on the screen, ignoring the archer's eyes on her.

"You're the Black Widow and you didn't see this doofus coming?" He commented when he watched the moment Alexei knocked her off with the vase.

"That bastard came from behind, I was preoccupied for Bucky and Steve." She finally talked to him.

"I would've seen it coming." He added, watching the fight.

"Because you're the Hawkeye?"

He smiled looking at her. "Exactly."

"You don't know about all of the things you don't see coming." She shrugged. "You never saw coming who I was."

"That's– a fair point." He admitted and looked back at the screen. "There, they're leaving here." He said, typing on the keyboard to change the video. He put on the footage from the elevator. "Well, apparently they like knocking people over." He concluded as he saw the men carrying an unconscious Steve in the elevator.

"They went to the top of the tower." She said. "Is there any camera here?"

"I don't think so. Jarvis, do we?"

"Unfortunately no, sir. The only entrance for helicopters is on the deck, Mr Stark made it that way." Jarvis told them.

Natasha sighed. "Fuck it, we don't know where they went. We need to find him ASAP, they could be doing anything to him right now."

_**Meanwhile in Spain**_

Steve groaned in pain as electricity shook through his whole body. "Argh!" His hands gripped the armrests of the chair he was stuck in. His head hung low and soft grunts of pain escaped from his mouth.

"He's all ready for you, sir." A man with black hair said as he lowered the handle that controlled the arrival of electricity.

"Perfect." Alexei smirked as he turned around to look at the soldier.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Just checking**

Tony waited in the room where they had brought Bucky. Doctor Stacy Brito and Bruce had taken the wounded man into another room in order to check correctly on him. They had to determine if he was wounded on both his front and back or just his front.

The billionaire sat in the room patiently when his Stark Phone beeped. He looked and saw a message from Pepper. "Hey, is everything alright? I received Jarvis' alert I'm on my way." He frowned slightly and typed his reply: "Uh, hey. Everything's okay, just some minor damage. You don't have to come. Btw, how did you receive an alert?"

Shortly after came her text. "I'm your emergency contact remember?" He read the text then turned off his phone with a sigh. As he was putting his phone back into his pocket, Stacy and Bruce brought Bucky back into the room.

"He's gonna be fine." Stacy announced. "That girl, whoever she was, did an incredible job. He could be in a much worse state right now."

"Thank you, Stacy." Bruce admirably said with a smile. She gave him a sympathetic smile. A soft buzzing came from her side and she picked up what seemed to be her pager. "Ugh, Bryan hurt himself again. I start to believe that he's doing that to spend time with me." She sighed. "It was a pleasure, Tony. Call me if anything happens to Barnes." She instructed them and left.

Bruce watched her leave and looked back at Tony with a questioning look. Before he could even ask, Tony told him the answer he wanted. "Natalie, is actually Natalia. She is — or was, who knows — with Hydra. They sent her to watch over Steve, then assigned her to kill him. Anyway, they came here, told everyone she was The Black Widow and we fought."

"The Black Widow?" Bruce demanded, this name was certainly not foreign to him. "Isn't she the spy that the Winter Soldier trained?"

"Ding, ding, ding!" Tony said, as if the 7 PhDs man had won the lottery. "That's actually her."

"And now she wants to find Steve because...?"

"What do you mean because?" Tony asked with a frown on his tired face.

"Well, we know him. We're his teammates, Bucky over here is his best friend but her? Wasn't she pretending?" Bruce wondered out loud. In his mind, she was not a good person, at least not from what they read about her. He was sure she had faked the whole thing tho he wasn't against giving her a second chance. The team had gotten along well with Natalie, but what was the difference with Natalia?

"She fell in love with him, that's why." The brunette replied, looking up at Bruce and standing up. He walked to him and put a hand on the doctor's shoulder. "I don't know how much of her was true but she seemed to be genuine about her feelings."

Bruce nodded. "I see. I've been a little ahead, I didn't give her credit." He pursed his lips and put a hand on his shoulder. "I would not have believed her." He sighed. He hated jumping into conclusion rapidly but he couldn't help himself and seeing what had happened, he couldn't do anything else. He removed his hand from Tony's shoulder and walked out of the room leaving him with an unconscious Bucky.

Tony watched his colleague leave then he turned to Bucky's bed. He looked around for the soldier's t-shirt, the said man was shirtless due to Bruce and Stacy removing it earlier. He found it sitting on the chair beside the bed, he went closer to Bucky and picked up the t-shirt. When he turned around, his eyes landed on his torso and curiosity took over him. With one hand, he held the t-shirt whereas the tips of his fingers from his free hand hovered over the closed wound.

He lightly touched the skin with his fingers and he felt electricity run through them. "I'm all okay now, you know." Bucky's tired voice startled Tony who almost immediately removed his fingers.

He cleared his throat and nodded. "I was... just checking." He said giving the soldier a tight smile. "Oh, um, here's your t-shirt." He laid it aside Bucky and backed a few feets back from the bed.

"Has Natalia found anything yet? I know she went to look for him." Bucky declared as he sit up on the bed. A soft grunt escaped his lips and he tried to put on his t-shirt.

He nodded, turning his head to give the man some privacy. "She and Barton are looking at the footage of the security system."

"Not anymore." Natasha said as she entered the room with Clint who quickly followed behind her. "They landed here on the top of the room with a Quinjet of their own. There is absolutely no way for us to know where they went."

"But we can still track where they're going. Cassiopeia." Bucky announced as he sat up on the hospital-like bed.

"Yes, Cassiopeia." Natasha said, almost with disbelief. She hadn't thought of using Cassiopeia. She looked at Bucky and nodded repeatedly. He did the exact same thing.

Tony, Bruce and Clint looked at them. They felt kind of left out not understanding what was going on. "Cassiopeia?" Bruce asked.

"It's a Hydra program." Natasha replied. "The Cepheus, the highest Hydra members, use this program to track all of their agents' moves. They know where we are, where to go next and where we get our missions. The Cepheus are the only ones who can give us missions and our grades." She explained.

"You guys have all that?" Clint wondered with obvious shock on her face.

"You speak as if James or I was still with them." The redhead defended with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Mister Barnes has been on the run from them for some years now. You, however, are still with them. This is why we are here." A man's voice spoke up from the doorway and the adults turned around. They saw a couple of Shield agents standing here. "Natalia Romanova, you are under arrest under the behalf of a couple of countries."

"What?" Natasha and Bucky said at the same moment. "No!" Two of the agents came forward her and grabbed her.

"What are you doing? You have no rights!" Bucky argued trying to get up but his wound held him back on the bed. "She's as much as a victim as me if not more!" He yelled when they dragged her away. He looked at the men. "You call yourself the Avengers yet you're incapable of doing anything for her?!"

"There's nothing we can do anyway." Tony said. "The only thing that matters is finding Steve."

"Without her we don't stand a damn chance!" Tony ignored him and walked out of the room. "Bruce, Clint, we have to free her. They could kill her! Would you let an innocent woman be condemned for something she isn't responsible for? You've seen the footage Clint, you know as much as me that she was supposed to be granted her freedom after her mission."

"Tony is right, Bucky."

"Is he? She was raised to be the monster they wanted her to be, anybody would've think that this was the right way." He sighed. "We need her, she knows everything about them."

"You don't?"

"My memories have been damaged, I don't know what's true or false. She's been in longer than I."

Clint and Bruce nodded looking at each other. Both were contemplating the options they had.

* * *

"I demand to speak with the Avengers, right now!" Natasha said, slamming her chained wrists on the table. "I know you're here, listening to me and watching me. This is all so useless." She pursed her lips. "I can't believe you're ready to put Captain America in even more danger than he already is."

Shortly after the words left her mouth, a man entered the room and closed the door. "Hit a sore spot, have I?" She smirked slightly. "You're so predictable."

"Miss Romanova, welcome here at SHIELD."

She tilted her head. "Oh, so you're saying all of this is just a friendly gesture." She mocked wiggling the chains she was trapped in.

The man smiled at her. He was dressed in a dark grey suit with almost no hair on his head. He walked over to the table and sat down at the opposite of her. "My name is Phillip but call me Coulson. What do you know about Captain America? Why did you say he was in danger? Where is he?"

"Do you always bombard your suspects like that? Too many questions, you call yourself agent?" She sighed a relived sigh, for so many month she hadn't been able to be this sarcastic and she had missed it. She knew she could be herself with him but there was some parts of her personality that she had kept hidden from him. "Hydra took him."

"Hydra?"

"They attacked the Avengers tower and more or less took him. Against his will, obviously."

"Are you sure it was Hydra?"

"Are you implying that I don't know who kept me captive all those years?" She defiantly asked. "Look, you need to let me go, I can help them find Steve."

"Who?"

"Us." Bruce's voice said from the door. Natasha and Coulson looked in his direction and saw him stand here with Clint and Tony.

Coulson looked at the boys then at Natasha. "Is she saying the truth?"

"I don't exactly know what you spoke about but if you talked about Steve being kidnapped by Hydra then yes she's saying the truth."

Coulson nodded. "I don't know if—"

"Can we speak with her?" Clint asked, interrupting him.

"Could you stop talking as if I wasn't in the room?" She questioned with annoyance.

"Of course." Coulson said as he stood up and let the men inside. He walked out and closed the door behind himself.

"I'm surprised you're here, Tony." She commented, leaning back in her chair.

"They dragged me there, actually." He defended. "I don't see why we should trust you. You lied to Steve for months and to us as well. What tells us you're not still working with them?" He couldn't help but be doubtful of her intentions. Even if Bucky assured him that she was genuine when it came to her feelings to Steve, he still wasn't totally convinced.

"I think that everything Alexei said can prove you that I'm not working for them anymore. He wouldn't have attacked us if I was." She argued. "I am your only chance." She said, her voice softer. I'm the only one who can help you and you know it. Arrest me, kill me, do whatever you want with me afterwards but God's sake let me help you find him..."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Level 6**

"So, tell us more about Cassiopeia." Tony asked as he sat down in front of Natasha, one of his hands was on the table whilst his other rested on his lap. She looked at him with a surprised expression, she wanted to laugh. He tried so bad to look like one of those cops from the 40s, all badass and confident. He was forcing the game, he wouldn't make a good person to go undercover with.

She looked up at the guys, her annoyance could be seen in her eyes. She sighed as Bucky gave her a small smile and looked back at the billionaire. She scrunched her face slightly and shook her head as if trying to shake away the ridiculous of the scene. She was perplexed when she thought about what he had told her, she had just practically begged them to let her help them and there he was asking for something she already talked to them about.

"I told you everything I could." She replied, leaning forward and looking at him with a serious expression.

"Everything that you could? How about everything that you wanted to say?"

She scoffed. "I told you everything. I don't have access to whole thing, I'm only at level 6."

"Level 6?" Bruce asked as he stepped up to the table.

"Yes. The program is set like a game, we have accounts, codes and we have missions to fulfill." She explained. "Maybe, I didn't say _everything _but I said the most important bits. We write our rapports right on it and each member has their special code."

"The Cepheus, the chiefs, are at level 10. It takes years to achieve that level." Bucky added.

Bruce and Clint turned to look at him. The archer commented. "Do you think this Alexei guy could use Steve to push himself towards to that level?"

"He surely will." Natasha replied. "He's a level 8, if he brings the Captain America in they are going to grant him almost everything."

"Well, that's not something that should be happening." Tony declared as he looked at the woman.

"So, are you going to let me help you?" She asked raising her hands and jiggling on the cuffs. Her head was tilted to the side and she gazed right into Tony's eyes.

"You have everything that you need here," Tony said as he gestured to the devices and computers with his hand before continuing in his explanation. "Jarvis is up to help you. The guys and I are going to watch you at different times."

"I don't need babysitters." Natasha complained as she sat at the desk where the computers were. "But, you know, I get it. You don' trust me and I don't like you, so that kinda makes us even, right?"

Bucky snickered and sat down next to her. "Are you going to be able enter the program thought Stark's computer?"

"Don't you know me, level 5?" She jokingly questioned.

The brunette stuck out his tongue at her in a mocking way. She did the same thing before bursting into laughter. "I meant, what if Alexei turned you in?"

"I don't think he did, he's probably going to wait until he told them about Steve."

Bruce frowned. "But, why would he wait? What if it's them who gave him this mission?"

Natasha thought about it for a second then shook her head. "That's unlikely. They know it's too risky to attack one of the Avengers directly, it could expose them. As far as anybody is concerned, Hydra drowned with Steve in the Arctic waters."

"What a poor choice of words." Bucky commented. "Drowned." He cleared out with a chuckle and a movement of his head.

"Shut up." She told him. "As much as they are afraid to be exposed to the whole world they're going to be delighted when they see him. They can use his mind and change him, we have to have find him as soon as possible."

"Just to be clear, by 'we' you actually mean 'you', right?" Clint chided in with his finger raised up in the air.

Natasha sighed. "Obviously." She turned to the computers and let a breath out. "Okay, let's do this." She began typing on the keyboard and managed to get into the program. "Alright, I'm in. Let's see, latest mission. Provider Alexei Shostakov, let's click on his profile." She commented as she went through the program.

"Hey, when you check his profile are you going to swipe right?" Clint asked hovering his head between Natasha and Bucky. The both of them stopped focusing on the computer screen and turned to look at him, an estranged expression was on their faces.

"Why don't you give us some space?" Bucky suggested.

Natasha snorted and turned back to the screen. "Okay, I'm gonna click here." She said, returning to giving little comments of what she was doing. She fixed the computer with her eyes, her mind working a mile an hour. "Damnit!"

"Oh, great." Bucky sighed.

"What?" Tony wondered.

The woman settled back into the seat and turned to the guys. "I can't get access on his location. Apparently I can't get the access of someone whose level is higher than mine. If I don't know where that bastard is then we don't know where Steve is."

"And there's nothing you can do? Like, I don't know, track is phone." He expressed in a rather rude tone.

"Oh, geez! Why haven't I thought of doing that?" She questioned with a honeyed voice. "Thank you so much for telling me of something that I have obviously not thought about, Tony!" She faked a smile to match her silly tone. She was totally mocking him and she was absolutely loving it.

"The phones they give you cannot be tracked." Bucky explained looking at Bruce then glancing towards Tony but quickly looked away when the latter glanced back. He cleared his throat. "The only solution we have is to hack into someone's account."

Natasha let out a forced laugh as she flicked her eyes towards him but she quickly repressed her false amusement when she noticed the serious on his face. "The only account that we could try to hack would be of the Cepheus' account. That's just totally insane, it'd be like giving yourself away after committing a murder."

"What other option do we have?" Bucky asked.

The redhead shook her head and tried to think of another solution. "Wait, why don't you hack into a Level 8 account instead?" Bruce demanded while folding his arms over his chest.

"Because a Cepheus account let us know everything about anyone; their location, their missions, the places they have to attend, the meetings of Hydra and such. A Level 8 account would not provide us this all."

"James, this is completely mad." She inquired with disbelief. She was shocked and couldn't believe he was even thinking of doing this.

"_Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -with what caution -with what foresight -with what dissimulation I went to work!_ " He told her with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, don't you dare! Don't quote Edgar Allan Poe to me, you can't compared someone who committed a murder with what you suggest we do."

Bucky smiled. "Yet you did give that comparison earlier."

"What-" She began but stopped herself. She shook her head and thought for a moment. A soft bark was coming from a certain distant. The barks were getting clearer and clearer, it disturbed her thoughts. She watched as Punk walked into the room. She looked at the dog for a moment and sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. It's good a good cause worth dying for."

"Just to be clear, if there's any chance for them to kill us it won't be all of us, right? Spare me the doubt, that'd be nice." Clint spoke up with a hidden fear.

"Oh, I'm sure they would spare your life." She assured with mockery in her voice.

"Good, then." Clint replied and sat down on the gigantic table of the room.

She sighed and turned to Bucky. "Whose are we going for?"

"Uhh..." He trailed off. "Kuznetcov's. That old brontosaurus barely uses it."

"Right!" She nodded and dived into the process of hacking one of her old bosses' account. A small smile of hope then appeared on her face, there was a slight chance that she could save Steve. She knew she would never stop fighting for him. She was ready to spend until her last breath on finding him.

_**In Spain**_

A sort of banging sensation was felt on both sides of his head. He groaned slightly in pain, was that how it felt to be hungover? He placed a hand on his right temple and opened his eyes. His eyelids opened and closed a couple of time as he adjusted to the bright light of the lamp. He sat up to see that he was on a bed.

He looked down at himself and noticed that he was dressed in cargo pants with a white shirt. He frowned slightly then lifted up his head to take a full view into the room. "How do you feel, soldier?" A tall man with dark hair and mischievous smile.

He wanted to laugh at the situation, on one hand he couldn't remember getting dressed this way but on the other hand, he remembered the man who asked him the question. "Just a sore head, sir."

"The pain will be gone soon." Alexei explained and tossed him a bottle of water. "You have a suitcase underneath your bed. Pack your things, we're leaving tomorrow."

_**In America**_

Natasha was at the desk still. It was late in the evening, everybody had left for bed except her. She couldn't sleep, she wouldn't rest until they found him. Steve was the most precious thing she ever had in her life, she could live with the fact that he now probably hates her but knowing that he is in the very hands of the same men who broke her and turned into a weapon only increased her determination.

"You're still here?" A voice came from the door frame. She recognized it to be James' voice. He stepped into the room, not expecting an answer from her. "Did you get some sleep?"

"No." She shook her head, her eyes on the screen of the computer. She kept her eyes fixed on it, she was afraid that something bad would happen if she looked away from too long. "I can handle it."

"I know, but you can't deprive yourself." James told her as he took a seat next to her. "Did you drink or eat anything at least?"

Once again, she shook her head. "No." Came her short reply for the second time.

"Nat, it has been two days now. You can't keep staring at this computer screen for much longer. You need to drink, eat and sleep."

"I can't, I have to find him."

"But Kuznetcov has given us nothing yet." He reminded her but when he saw that she was moving her eyes from the screen he added. "Look, Nat, I'm worried about him, too. He's my best friend and I've just reunited with after 70 years apart. But depriving yourself from your basic needs won't help him."

"James," She called out and finally turned to look at him. "I am the reason he's danger, I put him in this danger. Hell, I put all of you in this danger. The- the least I can do is find him."

"Don't beat yourself up. This is anything but your fault." He took her hand. "Listen, you're going to get something to eat and something to drink right away. Then you're going to get some sleep and I'll the computer for any changes, okay? We make this work together."

She was about to protest but she knew he was doing what was best for her. She nodded. "Fine." She got up and smiled slightly at him. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

She started walking out of the room when a sound erupted from the computer. "What is it?" She asked and practically ran back to her seat. "Finally!"

"What?" Bucky leaned on the computer. "Are they having a party?"

"Yes, every Cepheus will be reunited." She typed something on the computer and data information appeared. "Look, it's a message from Alexei. He's currently in Spain and he says he has some exciting news to announce for Hydra."

"He's going to bring Steve to them." Bucky concluded with a smile. "Where is it happening?"

"Um," She searched for a second. "Inverness. It's this weekend."

The two adults looked at each with a content smile. "We're going to save him."

"We are." She sighed in relief.

_**In Spain**_

The blood man looked at the dark-haired man as he raised up from the bed. "Where are we going?"

"Inverness." Alexei replied with a side grin.

Hi, everyone! I would like to apologize for taking this long to update, I didn't know what road to take with this story but now I kinda got it all figured out. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Inverness**

"Guys, it's 9am. Why did you wake us up so soon?" Clint complained as he dragged his feet on the floor. His eyes were halfway open. "You better have a good reason."

"We do have good reason," Natasha announced excitedly. "We actually let your guys sleep for a few more hours than we did, we've actually known about the good reason for probably two hours now." She explained to everybody who was now sat at the kitchen table. Only Bucky was standing beside her with a goofy smile on his face. "We know where Steve is." She excitedly said. "Well, where Alexei is going to bring him next."

"Oh, that's fabulous!" Bruce exclaimed and the three men were relieved to hear the good news. "Where will they go? Where are they?"

"_That_ we don't know but Hydra is hosting a party in Inverness, all the big guys are gonna be there and Alexei is obviously going to bring his new trophy there." Bucky explained.

Natasha nodded with enthusiasm and glanced at Tony. "Do you think you can get us a ride?"

"Am I Tony Stark or am I Tony Stark?" He asked her and sipped from his cup of coffee. He took his phone out and gently taped his fingers on the screen a couple of times. After a minute or two he put down his phone, sipped on his coffee as a dramatic gesture and looked back at Natasha. "We're leaving in an hour. We're taking the Quinjet."

"Fantastic!" Natasha squealed and exited the room along with Clint and Bruce. Bucky smiled and turned around towards the counter. He prepared some more coffee for himself. Tony stood up from his seat at the table and walked to the kitchen sink where he put down his used cup of coffee. "Are you not going to pack?" He asked to the soldier.

"I already did."

Tony nodded and sat down his cup of coffee. "Where are we going exactly?" He asked as he faced Bucky directly.

"Well, Scotland," He responded nonchalantly. "It's a beautiful country. Got lots of dreamy landscapes." He added, noticing Tony facing him and he turned his body towards him.

"Nat's got everything planned out, hasn't she?" He asked softly, his arms by his side, his right hand fidgeting with the pocket of his pants.

"Of course, she has. She's barely slept last night, spent it planning on our journey there." He told, his voice silvery and penetrating. "A friend of hers has an apartment there, we're all going to stay here until we get Steve back."

Tony's tongue dart out of his mouth to wet his lower lip. "So, I suppose we're—" He cleared his throat to get rid of his rough, deep voice. "Are we all gonna fit in one apartment? We are five adults, I mean, I don't think that there are five bedrooms, right?"

Bucky faintly smiled. "We'll have to sleep together." He said, his words coming out slowly and almost full of lust.

"Excuse me?" Tony exclaimed, taken aback. His head slightly moving backwards in surprise.

The brunette soldier, realizing how it may have sounded, shook his head a couple of times. "I- I mean, in the same rooms and probably beds. The guys will have to share a room since we are four men."

"Yes, of course. That's… exactly what I thought."

He frowned and scrunched his eyes as looked at Tony. "Wait," He started. "You thought I wanted to sleep with you?"

Tony took another step forward him, his feet were much closer to his and their faces almost touched. "Well, don't you?" He asked in a whisper.

Bucky was speechless, he didn't know what to say or even how to admit that, _yes_, he did want to sleep him. The two men were close, Tony's eyes were on Bucky's lips and vice versa. The tension was growing into the room, their mouths were getting closer, and closer, and closer every second.

"Time's up, let's go!" Natasha yelled as she came into the common room. The two men jumped a few inches away from each other and was at a good distance away when she arrived in the room. "Have you guys packed?"

"Yes," Bucky answered while Tony said. "No."

She snorted. "Go pack a few clothes while we get into the Quinjet." She ordered the billionaire and walked to the deck where the Quinjet was.

"Since when does she command?" Tony exclaimed with a snobby scoff.

"Truth is, since the beginning." Bucky responded, took his bag and joined Natasha at the deck as she yelled. "Come on you fools, hurry up!"

She was standing at the entrance of the plane, like a parent who is about to scold you or a teacher at the entrance of a classroom. Her arms were folded.

"Relax," Bucky exclaimed. "We have plenty of time left."

Clint and Bruce arrived at deck, Natasha looked at Bucky. "We have to catch these guys up on how to behave and blend in at _the_ Hydra party of the year."

Bucky glanced at the two men then returned his eyes to her. "Okay, we don't have time. Hurry up!" He repeated.

"You really think the worse of us, don't you?" Clint asked as he climbed up into the Quinjet.

"In terms of spies, yes." She told him as she gently pushed him inside.

"And in terms of guys? Like actual people?"

She stopped walking, standing now in the middle of the jet and thought about what he said. "It's not much better, actually." She replied and took her place in the piloting area.

"I wasn't expecting less from you." Clint told her as he sat in the seat next to her.

Bucky appeared between the two seats and looked at Natasha. "It's a suicide mission." He commented.

"But Steve's worth the trouble." She reminded him. She and Clint were going to fly the jet together. Tony quickly arrived and they finally left New York. Bruce was aside, working on his tablet and trying to hack into Cassiopeia to put up profiles for everyone of them except Bucky who wasn't going to attend the party for obvious reasons.

Tony was sitting on the left side of the jet, his eyes concentrated on a book he was currently reading. He studied every pages before starting the next one, he was very focused on it. So focused that he didn't even notice Bucky sat by his side. The said man cleared his throat to make his presence known, Tony looked up from the book. "What?"

Bucky held out his hand and pushed the book back to read the title. As he read it, one of his eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Espionage for dummies?" He asked. "You really think you can learn how to be a spy by reading a book?"

"Well, why not." He shrugged, marked the book, closed it and set it aside. "What do you want?"

Bucky pursed his lips, he had seen right through him. "To talk." He briefly replied.

"About?"

"What happened earlier." He enlightened him. "I mean, of course, about what _almost_ happened earlier."

Tony frowned. "I don't think I know what you're talking about?"

"Are you stupid or trying to feign innocence?"

"Who knows?" Tony smiled and went back to reading his book.

Bucky sighed and walked to Bruce. He indicated to him what to do, even though the 7 PhD's man did not need to be indicated what to do. He knew something was bothering Bucky, probably Steve, he thought. Those two have known each for almost a hundred years, he exhaled at the thought and look at the disturbed man. He examined his features and told to himself in his head. "Surely doesn't look his age."

Meanwhile, towards the piloting area, Clint and Natasha were both silent as they made sure the Quinjet was flying correctly. They both knew that they didn't to be two for the task at hand but yet not of them moved away. But something that Clint knew but that Natasha did not, was that the jet had an auto-piloting system and could fly on its own."Did you really mean what you said earlier? About the three of us?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence they had both enjoyed. "Do you really think that we are stupid enough to not be able to blend in?"

Natasha breathed out silently. "I don't think you are stupid, none of you." She said. "Well, maybe except for Tony." She quickly added, gaining a chuckle from the blonde man. She sighed and shook her head slightly. "It's just that, we only have until tomorrow night to make sure that you, the avengers, can blend in a room full of the most deadliest person on earth. You know that Hydra means bad guys, that's a fact, that's who those people are, who I am…" She trailed off. "But you know nothing, if it wasn't for Bucky or I, years would have passed before you knew that Hydra was still standing. I never thought that any of you are stupid but, being the good guys who saved the world and who are going straight into the enemy's territory, that makes all of you stupid for risking your lives."

"But as you said, it's worth it, Steve is worth the trouble. The world needs this guy, without him we wouldn't have been able to save the numerous lives that we saved during the battle of New York. He's the key element to the team, he's the boss, the captain." He informed her. "And, even if you don't realize it now, you are not like them. You're not a bad person, I understand it, your story. You needn't have to tell me, I know it's something you were born into but that you never really understood or agreed to. I don't know much about what's going or what's going to happen, but I do know that a bad person wouldn't be here, wouldn't be able to sacrifice themselves for someone they love. You are a good person Natasha, wait until you realize it."

Natasha was dumbfounded by his words, she looked at him in disbelief. He understood her, he knew what she had gone through and this is what she had just needed. Bucky may have been with them for longer than she has, but he was just used from time to time and he wasn't born into it like she had. They had been broken by the same people and yet not the same way, not at the same time and definitely not for the same period. A sweet smile appeared on her lips as she looked at him. She knew the look he had, she would recognized it anytime as this kind of look was rarely given to her. He was giving her the same look Steve used to give her and the same look Bucky still gives her: a look of comprehension, of compassion, of trust.

"You know, as of a pilot, you're pretty good." She told him, returning her eyes on the control panel of the quinjet.

"Oh, thank you." He said, taken aback by her words.

"Landing in 3… 2.. 1." Natasha announced as she and Clint placed the Quinjet down in a private airport. They gathered their stuff and exited the jet. Once on the ground, they waited for the car to pick them up drive them to the apartment where they would stay for the next few days.

"How come you have a private airport and a chauffeur in Scotland when you've never been into the country before?" Natasha asked Tony as she sat down her bags.

"I have contacts everywhere, in pretty much every country." He told her with a simple shrug.

She chuckled slightly. "Guys, we are here to save Steve and I'm telling you now, I'm not leaving the country until we have back with us. As Bucky said, it's a suicide mission and we're maybe all insane for thinking that we will succeed, but we have to keep hope, right?" She rhetorically asked as she looked at Tony on her left and Clint on her right. She walked a little forward so she could the four of them. "I'm not for motivational speeches but… we have to succeed, not just for him or for us, but for the thousand of millions of people who are counting on the avengers to protect them. You are the only hope that some people have and this is not something to take for granted. If they manage to keep Steve and kill us, the world will fall into their mercy, chaos and bloodshed will haunt the world. We surely can't let that happen." She told them, looking at one of them from time to time. "We can save him." She assured with a nodding head.

The guys nodded, expressing that they understood the task at hand. The car arrived not long after she finished her speech. The five adults picked up their bags and put it into the trunk of the car before climbing into the car. The chauffeur greeted Tony before letting his place to his boss. Another car arrived to pick up the chauffeur when the five adults left the private airport.

**[Not edited]**

**Oh, hey! **

**I know, I know, I know. It's been a VERY LONG time and I want to apologize for not posting anything for nearly two months! Sophomore year is taking up all my time, it's dreadful and draining. **

**Anyway, I hope all of you are doing okay and that you enjoyed this new chapter! More to come (hopefully soon!)**


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